HomeFeaturesMLB Mid-Season Grades: The New York Mets

MLB Mid-Season Grades: The New York Mets

Coming off their first World Series appearance since 2000, the New York Mets had very high expectations for the 2016 season. The common mantra among Mets fans was, “World Series or bust.” But the first half of the season hasn’t turned out like anyone expected. At the All-Star break, the “Amazins” have a record of 47-41 and are 6 games behind the Washington Nationals. Still, last season they had a record of 47-42.
Now that we’re at the mid-season mark, it’s time to take a look at how the Mets are holding up. For this breakdown, we’re using the standard A-F grading system.
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Ownership and GM, Sandy Alderson: The “Brain Trust” has done a great job of picking up players during the season, adding talent like James Loney, Rene Rivera and Jose Reyes. These players have all contributed, but it’s hard to overlook the fact that Alderson didn’t have a backup plan for the often-injured David Wright and Lucas Duda. Also, The Mets didn’t resign Daniel Murphy, which has come back to bite them because Murphy is leading the national league in batting average and has seven home runs against the Mets this year.
Grade: B-

Pitchers: Noah Syndergaard has been the ace of this staff since last post-season. “Thor” is 9-4 with a 2.56 ERA. He has 128 strikeouts and only 18 walks. Jeurys Familia has been the Mets MVP; he has 31 saves in all 31 save opportunities. This may be blasphemy, but Familia has been as good as Yankees future hall of famer, Mariano Rivera. Jacob deGrom and Steven Matz have had their ups and downs, but they can still dominate a game when focused. Even the 43- year-old Bartolo Colon is scheduled pitch in the All-Star game. Even with Matt Harvey out for the year, this is the deepest pitching staff in the MLB.
Grade: B+

Bartolo Colon
Bartolo Colon

Infielders: Asdrubal Cabrera, Wilmer Flores and Neil Walker have been a pleasant surprise. The three of them have a combined 35 home runs and 90 RBI’s. James Loney has done an admirable job at first base filling in for the injured Lucas Duda. There are no great players in this infield, but they are all solid professionals. With the acquisition of Reyes, look for the Mets to play “small ball” to take advantage of his speed and manufacture more runs.
Grade: B-
Outfielders: This is the toughest group to grade, because Yoenis Cespedes has been everything the Mets hoped for when they signed him for $27 million in the off-season; he is in the top 5 in every power category. Curtis Granderson has done a much better job batting 2nd in the lineup, but a .239 batting average is just not cutting it. Alejandro De Aza has been horrible; in 64 games, he is batting .176 with 37 strikeouts. Michael Conforto started off hot, but has since been sent down to the minors. He should get called back up this month, so look for De Aza to be reassigned.
Grade: C+
Curtis Granderson
Curtis Granderson

Catchers: Travis d’Arnaud has spent most of the season on the injured list. In 28 games, he has batted .247 with 2 home runs and 9 RBI’s. If he isn’t hitting, d’Arnaud is a liability because he is not a good defensive catcher at all; teams have been running on him all season. Rene Rivera has done a solid job as a backup defensive catcher, and has showed some pop at-bat with 3 home runs.
Grade: C-
Terry Collins: Injuries to David Wright, Lucas Duda and Matt Harvey have hampered the skipper’s ability to manage this team at full strength, but I still don’t like his philosophy at times. Flores was on a hot streak for about two weeks, and instead of playing him every day Collins benched him. The team plays lackadaisical, and appears to be unmotivated at times. He is an average manager, and thus gets an average grade.
Grade: C
For more from Monte Perez, follow The Sports Whisperer on Twitter @Montetjwitter11, and listen to the Monte Cristo Sports Thing on WRNJ Radio.


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