10 Important Silver Linings from the New York Mets' Lost 2014 Season
At 73-80 so far, the New York Mets' season has not exactly been perfect. There have been some great games, but the season altogether has been rather inconsistent.
With nine games to go, it's very unlikely the Mets will finish with a winning record, which has not happened since 2008. Six consecutive losing seasons is not good, and hopefully, the Mets will make some moves this offseason and begin to right the ship in 2015.
However, there have been a decent number of bright spots this season with certain players. Here are 10 important silver linings for the Mets' season this year.
The Emergence of Jacob deGrom
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Among all the bright spots the Mets have had this season, none has gained more attention than Jacob deGrom's great rookie season.
His journey this season has been quite a story. A shortstop-turned-pitcher, he originally got promoted in May and has been arguably the top rookie pitcher in the National League ever since. He leads all NL rookies in ERA, games started, innings pitched and strikeouts. He is also second to Chase Anderson in wins.
For the season, deGrom is 8-6 with a 2.68 ERA and 134 strikeouts in 134.1 innings pitched.
DeGrom didn't have the same kind of hype as a prospect in comparison to teammates Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler and Rafael Montero, as well as current top prospect Noah Syndergaard. However, he has asserted himself already as part of the Mets' rotation of the future and could very well become the Mets' fifth-ever NL Rookie of the Year. He would join Tom Seaver, Jon Matlack, Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden, which is pretty good company to be included with.
Lucas Duda's Breakout Season
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Another major bright spot to the Mets' 2014 season is the breakout year that Lucas Duda has had.
Duda was not even going to be the everyday first baseman at the beginning of the season. But that all changed when former teammate Ike Davis was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates in April. Davis had been the Mets' starting first baseman since 2010 while Duda mostly played the outfield. But Duda struggled defensively and never really put together a solid season at the plate.
After the Davis trade, Duda became the everyday first baseman, and he has responded with quite a big season. He is hitting .252 with 27 home runs, 83 RBI, 25 doubles and an .827 OPS. Duda is currently tied for third in the National League in home runs and is 10th in RBI. He is also 13th in OPS.
The Mets have been searching for a big power bat and stability at first base for years, and they may have finally found just what they were looking for in Duda. He has turned from a mediocre role player in the Mets lineup to a feared cleanup hitter, and hopefully, this will be just the start of many more big slugging seasons to come.
Zack Wheeler's Continued Development
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Zack Wheeler has had a solid first full season of his own on the mound with a 10-10 record, a 3.61 ERA and a team-leading 173 strikeouts.
Wheeler has had quite a few great starts this season and has been dominant at times, especially when racking up a bunch of strikeouts. Like deGrom, Wheeler is a big part of the Mets' future and has shown that he is more than capable of staying in the Mets rotation for a long time.
While he still needs to improve his control a bit more and limit the walks, Wheeler has been a dependable starter all season and should continue to improve with time.
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Jenrry Mejia's Good Transition to Closing
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For years, Jenrry Mejia went back and forth between starting and relieving, but by May, he became the full-time closer for the Mets and has done a solid job overall.
Mejia has 26 saves for the season in 29 chances. He also has a 3.81 ERA but a 2.92 ERA strictly as a reliever. He has 56 strikeouts in 52.1 innings pitched as a reliever, which shows how dominant he has been at times.
With Bobby Parnell coming back from Tommy John surgery next season, it will be interesting to see who the Mets closer will be in 2015. If there ends up being a spring training competition for the closing job, it will be very interesting to follow.
Jeurys Familia's Own Breakout Rookie Season
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Another reliever that has burst onto the scene this year for the Mets is Jeurys Familia. Familia is 2-5 with a 2.33 ERA in 72 appearances. He has 66 strikeouts in 73.1 innings pitched as well.
Familia has turned into a great setup man for the Mets in his rookie season. Among National League rookie relievers that qualify, Familia leads in ERA and is second to Carlos Martinez of the St. Louis Cardinals in strikeouts.
Familia is still learning more and more to limit the walks and improve his control, but he could very well be in the running himself to be the Mets closer in 2015. He has been rock solid in the bullpen, and as long as his control doesn't get too wild, he has what it takes to be a major league closer.
Josh Edgin's Bounce-Back Season
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Yet another Mets reliever that has had a great season is southpaw Josh Edgin. Edgin currently leads all Mets pitchers with a 1.35 ERA and has 27 strikeouts in 26.2 innings pitched. He has once again become the dependable left-handed reliever the Mets bullpen has needed.
Edgin should certainly continue to be a big part of the Mets bullpen in the future as the top left-handed reliever.
Travis d'Arnaud's Improvements in His Rookie Season
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Travis d'Arnaud's rookie season got off to a slow start and eventually resulted in a demotion to Triple-A Las Vegas in June. Around two weeks later, though, d'Arnaud was called back up and has hit much better since then.
For the season, d'Arnaud is hitting .245 with 13 home runs, 41 RBI, 22 doubles and a .721 OPS. However, he has been hitting .273 with seven home runs, 22 RBI and a .799 OPS since the All-Star break.
Among all NL rookie hitters, d'Arnaud leads in home runs and is third in RBI. However, he more than likely will not have a very good shot at becoming the NL Rookie of the Year, which goes to show how weak of an offensive NL rookie class there really is this season.
D'Arnaud though has asserted himself as the Mets' everyday catcher until further notice and should continue to improve in the future.
But if he doesn't improve himself soon enough, the Mets also have catching prospect Kevin Plawecki waiting in the wings. By the time Plawecki is major league ready, the Mets will have an interesting decision to make regarding their catcher of the long-term future.
The Continued Improvement of Juan Lagares
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In his second major league season, Juan Lagares has turned himself into more of a dual threat on the field. In his rookie season last year, he showed a great glove defensively and amazing range, but his bat (.242 average, four home runs, 34 RBI, .633 OPS) certainly was not as good.
This season though, Lagares has hit a lot better. He is batting .281 with four home runs, 47 RBI, 24 doubles, 13 stolen bases and a .703 OPS. He still is not drawing many walks, with just 20 all season, but hopefully, he will develop more patience at the plate with time.
As for Lagares' defense, it has only gotten better, and he is more than deserving of winning an NL Gold Glove this season. He has become one of the very best defensive center fielders in all of baseball.
Lagares will almost certainly remain the Mets center fielder in the future, and hopefully, his hitting will continue to improve.
The Surprising Power of Dilson Herrera
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At the end of August, the Mets decided to promote 20-year-old second baseman Dilson Herrera to the major league roster after Daniel Murphy was placed on the disabled list. Herrera is currently batting .189 with two home runs, eight RBI and a .611 OPS. Those numbers are not great by any means, even for such a small sample size, but Herrera has already shown possible glimpses of the potential he has.
Herrera is clearly not ready to become the Mets' starting second baseman in 2015, but he has already shown that he should at least be a factor in future plans.
Murphy has been one of the Mets' best hitters over the past four seasons, but it's very possible that eventually, the Mets could trade him and put Herrera as the new second baseman. This would not necessarily be a good idea for the Mets to follow through with, but Herrera's play has at least made it a possible option for the Mets' front office to think about.
Again, Herrera will more than likely spend most of 2015 in Triple A, but should something happen to Murphy in the future, the Mets now know that Herrera gives them better second base depth than they had before.
The Timely Contributions from Eric Campbell
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Just about all the breakout seasons among Mets players have been covered, but one other hitter has made the most of his opportunities with the team when they have come around. That would be utility infielder Eric Campbell, who was called up in May and has since spent time at every position in the field except center field, catcher and pitcher.
Campbell, yet another Mets rookie, is hitting .274 with three home runs, 16 RBI and a .699 OPS this year as a utility player. His contributions to the Mets are not too frequent, but he has certainly had his big moments this year and has shown that he is more than capable of being the Mets' utility infielder and corner outfielder in the future.
Depth is always important to team success in any team sport, and the Mets' bench depth is certainly that much better with Campbell's presence.
All statistics shown are courtesy of MLB.com.
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