The Mets season just ended with a flourish, as Noah pitched a complete game 1-0 shutout to cap off a MLB best performance by the starting rotation since early August. An 18-10 September was a great way to finish a losing season that had a mid-summer swoon the likes of which I can’t recall in my decades of following MLB. I believe there was a 10-43 streak in there that would break the back of the most optimistic of fans.
It goes without saying that Jacob deGrom’s historic season was the highlight of 2018, and rather than detail the performance with statistics that can easily be obtained elsewhere; a fan’s perspective. I fully expected Jake to have the inevitable bad outing. The game where nothing seems to work and opposing batters beat him around as if he were throwing batting practice. It happens more often than not to these all-too-human athletes who are expected to perform at the top of their ability each and every time. But it never happened. He was as automatic as any pitcher I’ve ever seen, and by far the fiercest competitor I can recall on the mound.
Much will be said about his low Win count, barely delivering a winning season, and it was truly astounding to see the Mets offense unable to score a run when Jake was pitching. It became another of those things I just can’t recall having seen before, where a Starting Pitcher would give up 1 or 2 runs and get a No Decision or a Loss. One of the more interesting measurements of his performance was to consider how many of his innings pitched were considered under duress; i.e. either behind in the score, tied or leading by only 1 run. This is what I mean about his fierce competitive nature. When the opposing team had a scoring opportunity is when Jake would find a little something extra to deny them. I’m not a fan of awards that depend on people voting because I generally don’t think much of people’s opinions, my own opinion being good enough for me, but numbers don’t lie. He was utterly dominant and he did it all season long. The Cy Young should be his by any reasonable judgment.
Brandon Nimmo was a surprising highlight this year, playing the game with such unbridled enthusiasm as to almost seem put on. But the kid loves to play the game and his humble beginnings growing up in a town whose High School didn’t even have a baseball program adds a little something extra to his story. He was an on-base machine, reaching base over 40% of his plate appearances and making spectacular plays in the outfield with regularity.
The late season call-up of Jeff McNeil brought more intrigue to the latter half of the year and I had a good feeling about him after his first few At Bats. McNeil can just hit, and in an era of prolific strikeout totals, it was truly refreshing to watch a guy put the ball in play, and do it a lot. It’s easy to say in hindsight that the kid can hit, and no one need believe that I foresaw his skill, but I did. I’ve been around this game since before my age reached double digits and I know what a good swing and a good eye at the plate looks like, and he had both. He seemingly made remarkable plays in the field every game and his addition to the Mets bodes well for next season.
The Trade Deadline brought no surprises, although the early season Matt Harvey trade was a bit of a shocker. Fans could breathe a sigh of relief that the few players dealt clearly showed that the organization doesn’t feel they have much to add to compete and the core of the team remained intact. I enjoyed watching Devin Mesoraco, who joined the Mets in the Harvey trade, as he’s a hard-nosed player who routinely took a beating behind the plate but somehow kept playing. Rosario’s dramatically improved play in the second half was exciting to watch as was Michael Conforto’s scorching month of September.
David Wright’s finale was a tear-jerker and it makes me wish I’d been following the Mets the last 14 years as I missed much of his heroics while dedicating my fanship to the now defunct Florida Marlins. The Marlins gave me the two best baseball seasons of my life–mixed in with years of frustration and aggravation–so I have no regrets, but my knowledge of Wright was only as one of the thorns in the Marlins side over the years when the division rival Mets played them.
Cespedes was the biggest disappointment of the year. That’s fairly obvious, but for me it wasn’t just the injuries but his general approach to the game. Clearly he’s a talented guy, with a talented staff of people that allow him to keep passing drug tests, but watching him flail away in his At Bats trying to hit every ball out of the park was pretty annoying. I honestly prefer watching him throw the ball than hit it, and I don’t know what the Mets plans for him are next year, and I bet the Mets don’t know either, since Cespedes seems to keep his plans to himself.
The Mets inability to throw base stealers out was another lowlight of the season, although Plawecki turned it up a notch in September and threw some laser beams to second which almost make you think the Mets can count on him as their primary catcher. I don’t think they will though.
Jay Bruce had an off year, and whether he can become a serviceable First Baseman will be an interesting question for next season, as that seems to be where the Mets see him for his future with the team. To his credit, he did hit better after coming off the disabled list with his hip and foot issues, but he clearly under-performed.
All in all, I enjoyed the hell out of the season and can’t give Gary Cohen enough accolades. He made even blow out games enjoyable to listen to, with his soothing baritone and his seemingly endless supply of Mets history to draw on in every telecast. While Keith got on my nerves periodically, when all three men are in the booth, I can’t think of a better broadcast team to call a game. I listened to quite a few innings on the radio as well, while I walked my dog or drove around town, and Howie Rose is pretty good, but Josh Lewin is pretty cringe inducing.
I will wear my Mets hat with pride this off-season and look forward to 2019 where hopefully I can make my way to Citi Field.
Joe's Blog 