Record: 104-58, 1th, NL East
Postseason: WON NLCS vs. Atlanta Braves (3-0), WON World Series vs. Minnesota Twins (4-3)
Ballpark: Shea Stadium (99 hits, 109 HR)
Runs scored: 710 (5th)
Runs allowed: 550 (1st)
Pythag record: 100-62 (+4)
Recap: The Mets basically came out of nowhere last year and led the NL East wire to wire en route to a dominant Championship Series followed by one of the great World Series in league history. They're now easily the most successful of all the expansion teams. Simply a great season by a great team.
History: The Mets lost 100+ in three of their first four years in the league but have quietly built themselves into a contender since then. Still, an 80-82 finish in 1968 led a lot of pundits to say that the build-up was a mirage. Needless to say, those people were wrong.
Outlook: This is a good team and a young team. Chicago will be a worthy competitor but the Mets are clearly the cream of the crop in the NL now and for years to come.
Rotation
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+ --------------- + -------------- + -------- + ----------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
| first_name | last_name | age | throws | w | l | Pct | Sv | era | g | gs | cg | sho | gf | ip | bfp | h | r | er | hr | sh | sf | hp | bb | ibb | so | wp | bk | Hper9 | HRper9 | BBer9 | Kper9 |
+ --------------- + -------------- + -------- + ----------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
| Joe | Beane | 28 | R | 13 | 11 | 0.542 | 0 | 2.74 | 35 | 35 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 266.1 | 1081 | 228 | 99 | 81 | 22 | 12 | 5 | 6 | 86 | 2 | 193 | 10 | 0 | 7.7 | 0.7 | 2.9 | 6.5 |
| Julio | Sandoval | 28 | L | 18 | 7 | 0.720 | 0 | 2.60 | 33 | 33 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 235.2 | 935 | 201 | 84 | 68 | 18 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 52 | 2 | 92 | 3 | 0 | 7.7 | 0.7 | 2.0 | 3.5 |
| John | Mash | 32 | L | 15 | 10 | 0.600 | 0 | 2.93 | 31 | 31 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 230.1 | 934 | 214 | 84 | 75 | 9 | 17 | 6 | 6 | 54 | 1 | 127 | 9 | 2 | 8.4 | 0.4 | 2.1 | 5.0 |
| Ernesto | Carrillo | 26 | L | 15 | 7 | 0.682 | 0 | 2.73 | 30 | 30 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 214.1 | 888 | 162 | 81 | 65 | 16 | 16 | 6 | 6 | 104 | 2 | 186 | 12 | 0 | 6.8 | 0.7 | 4.4 | 7.8 |
| Mark | Seitz | 23 | L | 7 | 3 | 0.700 | 0 | 2.94 | 12 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 85.2 | 351 | 82 | 30 | 28 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 28 | 0 | 40 | 6 | 2 | 8.6 | 0.7 | 2.9 | 4.2 |
| Matt | Shaver | 25 | L | 4 | 1 | 0.800 | 0 | 2.66 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 47.1 | 203 | 46 | 18 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 20 | 1 | 27 | 2 | 2 | 8.7 | 0.6 | 3.8 | 5.1 |
| Dave | McNicholas | 25 | L | 3 | 1 | 0.750 | 0 | 2.31 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 39.0 | 159 | 33 | 12 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 2 | 36 | 2 | 0 | 7.6 | 0.7 | 2.8 | 8.3 |
| Willie | Mirabal | 25 | R | 0 | 1 | 0.000 | 0 | 4.15 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13.0 | 59 | 14 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 9.7 | 0.0 | 8.3 | 6.2 |
| Brian | Johnson | 24 | L | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9.0 | 35 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 5.0 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 8.0 |
| Ryan | Weisberg | 26 | L | 0 | 0 | | 0 | 1.50 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.0 | 27 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9.0 | 1.5 | 4.5 | 1.5 |
+ --------------- + -------------- + -------- + ----------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
The Mets led the East by so much that they were able to hang with a 5 man rotation throughout most of the regular season. This should have had the effect of keeping everyone healthy but Julio Sandoval hurt his elbow during the ALCS and the Mets were stuck playing the entire World Series without their ace. Sandoval led the league in ERA and fewest baserunners allowed per 9 innings and barely lost out in Cy Young Award voting. His absence meant that Ernesto Carrillo, himself the 3rd best pitcher in the league by ERA, had to step up. And step up he did, completing 2 of 3 of his postseason starts en route to a 2-1 record with one of those wins being the Series clincher. That was a dominating performance: facing a team that had gone crazy on them at Metropolitan Stadium earlier in the series, he held the Twins to 1 run on 3 hits, striking out 8 men.
John Mash was a consistent #2 starter for the Braves before the Mets acquired him in December of 1968 in exchange for leadoff hitter Ruberto Yebra. He kept that solid play up in the spotlight of New York City and even knocked his old team out of the playoffs with a complete game victory in Game Three of the NLCS. On many teams Joe Beane would be the 1st starter; on a team as packed as the Mets, he's the 4th man up in the rotation. He actually led the league in shutouts in 1968 and the 13-11 record he had last season was mostly due to poor run support. The #5 starter is David Camacho, who was roughly league average for San Francisco last year.
Bullpen
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+ --------------- + -------------- + -------- + ----------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
| Geoff | Saus | 28 | L | 14 | 10 | 0.583 | 21 | 2.80 | 69 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 60 | 106.0 | 420 | 85 | 39 | 33 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 28 | 4 | 100 | 3 | 1 | 7.2 | 0.7 | 2.4 | 8.5 |
| Steve | Hollopeter | 24 | L | 6 | 3 | 0.667 | 0 | 2.82 | 31 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 79.2 | 328 | 82 | 30 | 25 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 0 | 59 | 3 | 0 | 9.3 | 0.6 | 1.6 | 6.7 |
| Roberto | Marin | 29 | L | 5 | 1 | 0.833 | 3 | 1.61 | 46 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 67.0 | 261 | 45 | 19 | 12 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 18 | 0 | 37 | 1 | 0 | 6.0 | 0.4 | 2.4 | 5.0 |
| Charlie | Bechtel | 23 | L | 1 | 2 | 0.333 | 1 | 5.75 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 36.0 | 163 | 47 | 27 | 23 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 30 | 1 | 0 | 11.7 | 0.7 | 2.3 | 7.5 |
| Eddie | Sanchez | 33 | L | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 1 | 1.42 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 19.0 | 75 | 14 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 6.6 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 4.3 |
| Robby | Mounier | 34 | L | 0 | 1 | 0.000 | 1 | 5.73 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 11.0 | 47 | 17 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 13.9 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 3.3 |
| Vinny | Chavez | 26 | R | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 0 | 0.00 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3.2 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4.9 | 0.0 | 2.5 | 4.9 |
| Mark | Gorey | 29 | R | 0 | 0 | | 0 | 9.00 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 18.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 9.0 |
+ --------------- + -------------- + -------- + ----------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
Both the starters and relievers finished first respectively in NL ERA. Nobody was scoring runs on the Mets in 1969 at any time. Geoff Saus was very involved with the team, although he did blow up a fair amount, with 10 relief losses against a relatively low 21 saves. Roberto Marin was his setup guy for much of the year and was nearly perfect in that role. Even Steve Hollopeter was pretty great in his rookie campaign. You've got to dig kind of deep to find actual poor play on the pitching staff: Charlie "The Test" Bechtel fits that, I guess. He actually had pretty solid peripherals but saw his ERA nearly triple last season compared to the year before.
Catcher
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+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + --------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| pos | first_name | last_name | bats | age | g | ab | r | h | 2B | 3B | hr | rbi | bb | ibb | k | hpb | sh | sf | sb | cs | gdp | ba | obp | slg |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + --------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| C | Jason | Bushon | L | 26 | 98 | 355 | 48 | 95 | 20 | 2 | 13 | 45 | 58 | 6 | 48 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 0.268 | 0.376 | 0.445 |
| C | Greg | Darrow | L | 26 | 66 | 218 | 21 | 60 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 30 | 13 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0.275 | 0.318 | 0.376 |
| C | Estevan | Garza | L | 29 | 14 | 28 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.250 | 0.323 | 0.321 |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + --------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
Someone's got to get credit for handling that staff, and that someone is Jason Bushon. Bushon's only a 3 year starter but has the mound psychology skills of a 10 year vet. He's also got nice bat control and power for a catcher. He missed a month with a fractured finger last year - part of the hazards of the job - and Greg Darrow filled in well in his stead. Should the Mets need to supplement their roster via trade, Darrow seems like good bait, as he could start for a lot of teams.
Infield
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+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + --------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| pos | first_name | last_name | bats | age | g | ab | r | h | 2B | 3B | hr | rbi | bb | ibb | k | hpb | sh | sf | sb | cs | gdp | ba | obp | slg |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + --------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| 1B | Joshua | Waltenbery | R | 29 | 159 | 614 | 114 | 213 | 37 | 1 | 36 | 100 | 100 | 15 | 68 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 0.347 | 0.437 | 0.586 |
| 1B | Gabe | Martinez | S | 27 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.500 | 0.500 | 0.500 |
| 2B | Nick | Warren | L | 30 | 99 | 356 | 32 | 88 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 33 | 20 | 7 | 36 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 0.247 | 0.287 | 0.315 |
| 2B | Luis | Alvarez | L | 26 | 50 | 204 | 23 | 42 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 14 | 1 | 46 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 0.206 | 0.259 | 0.255 |
| 2B | Marc | Tomblin | L | 34 | 28 | 63 | 7 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0.175 | 0.268 | 0.381 |
| 2B | Gary | Bender | R | 34 | 12 | 15 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.267 | 0.450 | 0.333 |
| 3B | Tim | Mock | L | 28 | 145 | 606 | 63 | 159 | 16 | 7 | 7 | 57 | 33 | 5 | 52 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 14 | 7 | 10 | 0.262 | 0.296 | 0.347 |
| 3B | Jose | Vallin | L | 35 | 87 | 120 | 10 | 37 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 15 | 3 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0.308 | 0.377 | 0.350 |
| 3B | Jeff | Nation | L | 24 | 10 | 21 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.190 | 0.240 | 0.286 |
| SS | Brian | Wilcox | L | 27 | 143 | 447 | 53 | 94 | 11 | 2 | 7 | 42 | 44 | 13 | 96 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 2 | 9 | 0.210 | 0.281 | 0.291 |
| SS | Lorenzo | Ortega | R | 23 | 33 | 57 | 8 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.140 | 0.258 | 0.193 |
| SS | Robert | Williams | L | 31 | 30 | 43 | 6 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.233 | 0.292 | 0.302 |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + --------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
Joshua "Superman" Waltenbery finished a close 2nd in MVP voting and it's not hard to see why. The man is not even 30 now and has more than 1200 career hits to go with a career .309 average. Last year "only" saw him lead the league in walks and intentional walks, but much of that was playing in spacious Shea Stadium. He also finished in the top 10 in HRs and RBIs, as you'd expect.
Luis Alvarez was the starter for the 2nd half of the season in 1968 but a lingering shoulder injury held him to just 28 at-bats last season. The Mets brought in Nick Warren from Montreal to shore up the position, which was one of the few weak spots in the Mets lineup last year. Truth be told, Alvarez was not super great in '68 either (he slashed 206/260/255) and so he and Warren will be in open competition this spring.
Tim Mock struggled last year after what looked like a breakout 1968 (a .292 average and 113 OPS+) and so the Mets shipped him off to San Francisco in exchange for 41 year old Nick Hawkinson, who showed that he still had it last year. Mock is the last player in the league who played for the Boston Braves. He was more of an above average player with a long career than a guy who was ever a superstar but perhaps a World Series title or two at the end of his career will boost his chances.
Brian Wilcox struggled to stay over the... Wilcox line, but the stick is not why the Mets keep him in the lineup. He won his 3rd Gold Glove in six years as a starter and seems to have a lock on that piece of hardware as long as his bat is passable enough to allow him to bat 8th. The Mets used Lorenzo Ortega and Robert Williams as late-inning defense guys after Wilcox was removed for pinch-hitters last year. Ortega hit .282 in AAA Jacksonville (note: the Mets had two AAA teams last season) but couldn't hit major league pitching, and Williams is a 31 year old who hasn't been able to get more than extended cups of coffee because he can't be trusted to carry a middle infield job for any length of time.
Outfield
Code:
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + --------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| pos | first_name | last_name | bats | age | g | ab | r | h | 2B | 3B | hr | rbi | bb | ibb | k | hpb | sh | sf | sb | cs | gdp | ba | obp | slg |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + --------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| LF | Jimmy | Washington | R | 26 | 151 | 594 | 95 | 172 | 20 | 2 | 29 | 113 | 50 | 7 | 54 | 6 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 22 | 0.290 | 0.344 | 0.476 |
| LF | Mario | Diaz | R | 37 | 79 | 106 | 14 | 29 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.274 | 0.316 | 0.443 |
| CF | Curtis | Hope | R | 24 | 134 | 491 | 81 | 120 | 19 | 14 | 18 | 50 | 79 | 13 | 117 | 8 | 12 | 1 | 11 | 12 | 3 | 0.244 | 0.350 | 0.450 |
| CF | Andy | Owens | L | 29 | 50 | 112 | 17 | 33 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 19 | 18 | 0 | 36 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.295 | 0.384 | 0.500 |
| CF | Chae-hwi | Park | L | 26 | 20 | 49 | 5 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.245 | 0.275 | 0.408 |
| RF | Edgar | Arriaga | L | 33 | 144 | 536 | 70 | 147 | 18 | 0 | 27 | 74 | 57 | 0 | 78 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 0.274 | 0.350 | 0.459 |
| RF | Javy | Perez | R | 29 | 16 | 39 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.179 | 0.340 | 0.282 |
| RF | Adam | Greenlee | R | 34 | 30 | 44 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.205 | 0.255 | 0.205 |
| RF | Danny | de la Fuente | R | 34 | 6 | 18 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.278 | 0.300 | 0.333 |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + --------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
Jimmy "Olsen" Washington is best known as Superman Waltenbery's lineup-mate but he's pretty good in his own right. He won the ROY in 1966 and has done nothing but rake since he entered the league. Last season he set career highs in HRs, runs, and RBIs. One surprising thing about a guy with his prodigious power is how well he manages to avoid strikeouts.
Curtis Hope won his very first Gold Glove award last year and turned in a quietly great hitting season as well. He maybe doesn't get on base quite as much as you'd like a leadoff guy to do, although that being said the .240 average last year was coupled with 79 walks in 491 at-bats so really there's not as much to complain about as you might think. I'm talking to you, JEFF. He also had really great HR power for a leadoff man, so good in fact that if it wasn't for all the other power on the roster the Mets would be looking at dropping him in the order to collect more RBIs.
Edgar Arriaga was drafted all the way back in 1955 but had never gotten the chance to start before last season. The Mets stuck him in the lineup every day and he rewarded them with top-10 finishes in HRs, hit by pitches, and isolated power. Oh yeah, and then he went insane in October and won both the NLCS and World Series MVP awards - that's what hitting .390 in 41 post-season at-bats with 4 HRs and 12 RBIs get you. He single-handedly provided all the offense in Game 7 of the Series in fact, with 2 of those 4 dingers. Long-term, it looks like the primary reason why he never got that chance before was because he has the range of a postage stamp and that's still an issue going forward.