Yoenis Cespedes was recently quoted saying that the 2018 Mets are the best team he has been around. After defeating the Miami Marlins 8-6 on Tuesday, New York improved to 9-1 on the season. They have won seven straight. In their long, storied franchise, the Mets have never started a season 9-1.
So what have been the keys to success so far? For one, their bullpen has been lights out. In 2017, New York’s bullpen ranked 29th in the MLB in ERA. Today, they are third in the MLB with a 1.56 ERA, and recently received Bullpen of the Week Honors. Their closer, Jeurys Familia, in eight innings of work, has six saves, 10 strikeouts and zero runs allowed.
As a team, the Mets have the second best ERA in the NL and rank second in strikeouts. Jacob deGrom is off to a hot start, winning his first two starts and posting a 1.54 ERA in his 11.2 innings of work. Noah Syndergaard is also 2-0, and Matt Harvey looks a lot more like the 2015 version of himself than what we have seen of him over the last two seasons.
Offensively, the Mets are not scoring a crazy amount of runs, but they are getting on base. Last year, New York ranked ninth in the NL in batting average and 11th in OBP. This year, they are second in OBP and third in batting average.
Newcomers Adrian Gonzalez and Todd Frazier have already shown they have plenty left in the tank. Gonzalez has six RBIs and a .387 OBP, while Frazier has an OBP of .386. Their star, Cespedes, leads the team in home runs (three) and RBIs (10). Asdrubal Cabrera is also off to a hot start, slashing .324/.400/.634.
Only two other times in Mets history has the team won eight of its first nine games. The first time was in 1985 and the second more recently in 2006. In both instances, New York won over 95 games.
Does that mean the Mets are destined for success? We now look back at those historic years, and see if those ball clubs relate to the 2018 Mets.
1985 New York Mets
Coming off a 90-win season in 1984, New York rolled into 1985 with essentially an identical roster. Dwight Gooden was fresh off winning NL Rookie of the Year, and finished runner-up in the NL CY Young voting after a stellar 17-9 record with a 2.60 ERA.
In 1985, “Doc” Gooden went on to pitch statistically one of the best seasons we have ever seen. His 13.3 WAR was the highest by a pitcher in over sixty years. Gooden finished 24-4 with a ridiculous 1.53 ERA, 268 strikeouts and 16 complete games in 276 2/3 innings of work. He won the pitching Triple Crown, leading the league in wins, ERA and strikeouts and unanimously won the NL CY Young Award. Gooden became the youngest pitcher to win the CY Young and Pitcher of the Year honors.
The Mets also had one of the best offenses in the league. Among the 12 NL teams, New York ranked third in runs and home runs, fourth in batting average and fifth in OBP. The offensive surge was led by Gary Carter, who hit 32 home runs and drove in 100 RBIs, and Keith Hernandez, who batted .309 with 183 hits and 91 RBIs. Both finished top-10 in the NL MVP voting.
The 1985 Mets went on to win 98 games, yet missed the playoffs, as this was before the Wild Card era, and only two teams from each league made the postseason. The following season, New York won 108 games and defeated the Boston Red Sox (Thanks Bill Buckner) in seven games to win the 1986 World Series.
Can we draw comparisons? In all honesty, this Mets pitching staff, led by deGrom and Syndergaard, is very similar to the 1985 team, which showcased Gooden, Ron Darling (16-6 2.90 ERA), Ed Lynch and Sid Fernandez. Both teams have All-Star caliber arms, as well as a good back-end of the bullpen.
2006 New York Mets
The 2006 Mets were more well-rounded than the present-day team. New York had a mix of established veterans like Carlos Delgado, Carlos Beltran and Jose Valentin, along with up-and-coming studs like David Wright and Jose Reyes, who were both 23-years-old at the time.
They finished the season 97-65 and had four players in the top 12 for NL MVP Voting (Beltran fourth, Reyes seventh, Wright ninth, Delgado 12th). Beltran hit 41 home runs and drove in 116 runs. Reyes slashed .300/.354/.487 with 19 home runs and 64 steals. Wright slashed .311/.381/.531 with 26 home runs, 20 steals, 40 doubles and 116 RBIs. Delgado smashed 38 home runs with 114 RBIs.
The pitching staff, which was full of veterans like Pedro Martinez, Tom Glavine, Steve Trachsel and Orlando Hernandez, finished second in the NL in strikeouts and third in ERA.
Ultimately, New York finished one win shy of the World Series, as they lost in seven games to the St. Louis Cardinals.
Conclusion
Let’s be honest, the 2018 Mets, unlike the 1985 and 2006 team, will not have multiple players in the top 15 for NL MVP voting. Aside from Cespedes, no one in this lineup is capable of earning MVP votes.
However, the 2018 Mets pitching staff has a chance to be better than both the 1985 and 2006 teams. Syndergaard and deGrom are two of the best pitchers in the NL, and if Harvey can get back to what he used to be, there is no reason this team cannot make a run in the postseason.
We saw what they were capable of in 2015 when they were a Wild Card team. Now healthy and more experienced, don’t sleep on the Mets.
Featured image by Metro US
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