31
2011
The Mets Have Two Legit Rookie of the Year Candidates
An article by Craig Lerner
One score and seven years ago (that’s 27 years for all of you modernists), Dwight Eugene Gooden electrified baseball with his 98 mph fastball and his unhittable sweeping curve en route to one of the finest rookie seasons in Mets franchise history. Doctor K won 17 games while posting a 2.70 ERA and leading the National League with 276 strikeouts, breaking Herb Score’s rookie record of 245 set in 1955. What a debut. For his efforts, Gooden was the overwhelming choice for the 1984 NL Rookie of the Year Award.
It’s been a long drought for the Mets since that magical rookie campaign that was oh so long ago. But are the baseball gods ready to smile down and bless the Mets this season with not one, but two potential rookie of the year candidates? Or is this just another one of those teases – another cosmic joke – like we’ve seen so many times before?
Meet the two prime candidates.
Dillon Gee – The right-hander was quickly dispatched to Buffalo at the end of Spring Training when the Mets carved out their original Opening Day roster, but it wasn’t long until injury struck and Gee returned to replace Chris Young in the rotation. Young would only pitch 24 innings for the Mets before succumbing to more surgery that will wipe him out for 12-18 months.
For Gee, who made a strong case to earn a spot in the rotation with a stellar September in 2010, it was a second chance to prove he belonged and he had no intentions of taking another shuttle to Buffalo this time.
In seven starts this season, Gee is 5-0 with a 3.38 ERA and overall since his initial call-up last season, Gee is 7-2 with a 2.85 ERA in 12 starts.
He won’t overpower hitters with his low-nineties fastball, but his killer changeup has kept batters guessing and usually guessing wrong. Gee’s philosophy on pitching is quite simple, “my main goal: to be consistent and give my team a chance to win every five days,” Gee said. Take heed Mr. Pelfrey and Mr. Niese.
Gee currently leads all rookie pitchers with five wins, with only one other pitcher close behind – the marlins’ Mike Dunne who has four wins.
Among pitchers with 40 or more innings pitched, Gee ranks second in WHIP with a 1.15 mark, and he is also second among all rookies in strikeouts with 37.
His odds of copping the award are very strong if he continues on this pace.
Justin Turner – Here’s another Spring Training casualty who failed to make the roster and wasn’t very happy about it either. However, Turner took it like a man and then went about his business which happens to be the art of smashing a baseball.
Like Gee before him, Turner missed a considerable chunk to the start of the season, but he’s making up for it and compiling some big numbers in a hurry. As of yesterday’s game action, Turner is now batting a scorching hot .337 with a .384 OBP and .457 SLG. His 21 RBI ranks fifth among all rookies despite only 91 at-bats this season. The leaders range from 147 AB to 193 AB.
Turner leads all National League rookies with 85 or more at-bats in batting average and on-base percentage, and he ranks second in the league with a .852 OPS.
You won’t find Turner’s name on this year’s All Star Ballot, because the Mets are represented by the now defunct Brad Emaus, but he is in fact playing at an All Star caliber level.
Turner would be blowing away the rookie field across the board if he hadn’t spent the first month of the season tearing the cover off the ball in Buffalo.
Even if Turner’s bat were to cool off some, there is still the potential for him to finish the season as a leading candidate for the award.
Dillon Gee and Justin Turner have made this season a lot more exciting than anyone expected.
Their strong performances thus far have given the team hope that at the very least, we may have uncovered two very significant players for the rotation and the infield moving forward.
Let’s hope their joyrides continue.
About the Author: Craig Lerner
I'm a data analyst and researcher for a leading news agency who loves life and is hooked on the Mets. I love following the Amateur Draft and have a particular fondness for the Mets Minor Leagues who I follow each day. Give me a cold beer, a summer day, and a Mets game, and I'm good to go.
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It’s exciting to see Mets rookies playing above their heads, and these two guys may wind up being solid pros, but the stats will even out. Anyone who expects these numbers to continue to hold up until the break, let alone the entire season, will be disappointed. It’s not even June yet, ridiculous to even start thinking about ROTY.
DK,
while i respect your opinion, if we can talk about wild card in may, why can’t we talk ROTY for these 2 mets who are ACTUALLY replacing oliver perez and luis castillo at their positions?
be optimistic, have fun with it, this is a good article, not like the crap some other ppl post here about sabermetrics and how dwright is clutch etc…
I am very optimistic about their futures, doesn’t mean I’m high on them for an end-of-season award when Gee only has 7 starts and Turner < 100 AB. We all know stats are meaningless in small samples, why pretend they're not? Or have we all forgotten Mike Jacobs already?
again, is your opinion and i respected. i just think for once in a LONG time we have actually rookie of the year candidates you know… btw, as of right now, the best 2b in the NL is turner.. go figuere..
I like both of theses guys. Gee was a great pick in the 21st round and Turner a real good waiver wire acquisition. Both of these moves are the types of things we should be doing a lot more of.
Turner is the kind of guy who might be a late bloomer or he might just be a guy who can play good MLB while he’s in his prime. There are a lot of guys like Turner that don’t clog up your roster, cost you millions and fail to live up to the expectations when they are near the end of their career. The trick is to forecast ahead of time by having a couple of in house Justin Turners when your current 2B man is about to become a free agent. A Justin Turner at 26 with 5 full minor league seasons CAN sometimes step up even for just a year or two and provide a lot more than someone nearing the end of their career. It’s a much better move than signing the wrong guy and having to live with him for 3 or 4 years.
Gee can flat out pitch through a Major League lineup. His change can get crushed but he sets it up so well. He’s not going to be an ace but he can be a really important part of the rotation. I liked this kid the first inning I saw him pitch. I think this was Omar’s best pick by far. 21st round 4th or 5th starter that can keep you in the game, every game. That is damn good.
Mostly these guys are 25 and 26. Not 20. That makes a huge difference. So does having a few of these types around. Much better than having a 20 year old come up here and not be ready or a multi millionaire play like **** and you have to then live with it and hope you can get something out of him.
Good job in getting both of these guys by Omar. Hope we get a few more to fill in around here and there.
Omar had nothing to do with getting Turner. He was brought in on the insistence of Wayne Krivsky.
nice, i was thinking that this morning, i didn’t realize gee was a rookie candidte, i thought he was already pass that, but yeah, him and turner CAN actually become the first mets ROTY since doc… GO GEE & TURNER!!!!
and to think, we’re replacing those 2 with perez and castillo!! lol.. ohhh omar minaya!!
I have Allen Craig over Turner right now. And I think Gee and Kimbrel are a bit neck and neck right now. If the Braves make the playoffs, it’ll take Kimbrel real far, as he’s the only full-time rookie closer in baseball, I believe. If Collmenter can keep it up, he’ll blow them both away.
Typical Mets garbage, one good month and all of sudden theyre touting MVP, CY and ROY awards. So pathetic. You do know that niether of these two were even on Baeball Amerioca top 250 prospects right? What a clueless fanbase.
Know who’s NOT going to win it? Dominic Brown.
You know what? It’s damn long season, and eight weeks into the marathon I’d still put my money on the #3 ranked prospect in the game over a couple of Joe-Nobodys from one of the worst farm systems in the whole game. You have no prospects, only suspects, and any legitimate minor league expert will tell you that. So laugh all you want at Brown’s slow start. he’s still worth a truckload full of Gee’s and Turner’s. Have fun at the bottom of the standings for the next ten years. Oh and when we sign Reyes we’re gonna have a blast rubbing your noses in it.
Oh and when we sign Reyes we’re gonna have a blast rubbing your noses in it”
i thought phillie fans hated reyes?? what happened? big mouth rollins is not good enough anymore?
pathetic.. are you looking for attention??
I dont need attention, nor am I looking for any. But when the ridiculous title of this post came across my reader, I had to see what nonsense it was referring to and couldn’t believe it was about a scrub who is now with their third organization, and a non-prospect pitcher with below average stuff.
Mets Have Two Legit Rookie of the Year Candidates”
that’s the title, what’s wrong with that? he’s right… remember, as of now, the “experts” project and predict MVP’s, Cy young’s, ROTY’s, division winners, so i don’t see anything wrong with this..
“it was about a scrub who is now with their third organization”
Ever heard of a guy named Jason Bay? He was jerked around between Montreal, Mets, Padres, and Pirates. Guess who won Rookie of The Year with the Pirates? Of course, he stinks now but he sure was no scrub then, now was he?
Turner has been consistently good in the minor leagues between the Reds, O’s and Mets, but was never given the chance to shine in the majors until now. Also, please spare me the “top prospect” bullshit because a few years ago, there was a guy who was NEVER a top prospect but won Rookie of The Year. His name? Chris Coghlan.
Do your research before you spew bullshit here, kid.
“I dont need attention, nor am I looking for any.”
Which is why you are trolling on a Mets site.
“But when the ridiculous title of this post came across my reader,”
And you found it because…
“I had to see what nonsense it was referring to and couldn’t believe it was about a scrub who is now with their third organization, and a non-prospect pitcher with below average stuff.”
And until 6 months ago, you knuckle draggers were sucking off Jayson Werth.
Look, we get it. Philllies fans hate their lives. It’s understandable. Most of you wake up in Philadelphia. The rest wake up in Southern New Jersey and you hope to someday upgrade to Philly. That would make anyone angry enough to puke on a child.
Good for your team and their success the last few years. Congrats on winning the same number of World Series as the Mets. Granted, your team has been around since the Civil War, but they still got 2. I’m sure that makes up for being the losingest franchise in sports history.
And if blindly lashing out at a smarter fanbase makes you feel manly and forget about the agonizing depression that is your life, welcome to the boards. I expect to see many more enlightened comments from you.
This Phillie Phuckhead has a secret mancrush on the Mets, that’s why he’s on our site.
Haven’t you figured it out the last few years? They love our leftovers. In fact, these are the same idiots who say “Placido Polanco is the best 3rd baseman in the game and is better than David Wright will ever be.”
Just shows you how bright Philly fans are.
I’ll take a nobody who produces over a #3 prospect who has done crap any day. They actually work hard rather than feeling like everyone has to bow down to them. Go away prick.
xtree-micon
btw, is actually domonic brown, but who cares right?
you should be embarrassed of yourself…
That probably says more about Baseball Americ’a list than Turner or Gee
You’re talking prospects, we’re talking players.
At this point, I’m betting Turner has the better chance of sustaining his success. He can definitely win the ROY as nobody is really running away with it.
I’m being cautious here. I find that too often we get sucked into a young player because he has an awesome few weeks. Heck, remember Murphy’s hype? I do… I bought a shirt in 2009!
Turner has 92 at bats, a full 100 behind Darwin Barney whom I suggest should be the NL ROY right now. That’s a long way to go before you can compare apples to apples.
You’re on to something with Gee because there are not many NL Pitcher ROY candidates. So he’d at least be in the tops there… Brandon Beachy is probably the only other pitcher candidate in my book right now.
I want to see more before I annoint anybody. Turner is going to slow down, you know he will. The key with him is where he lands when he slows down…
But still, I’ll wait and see how it goes before I get excited about the future here
future?? we’re talking about roty, hell, haven’t you heard of many roth who never panned out? hamelin 1994, yunerky, etc… come on bro, he’s just talking candidate jesse P, he’s not talking about futures or that they’re #1 prospect’s or anything like that, he’s just saying “candidates for ROTY!!!!” .. jesus..
I guess I thought the award gets handed to a player… in the future. And not after 92 at bats.
Silly me alex.
here we go, me know it all is at it again..
barney 311 1 24
turner 337 1 21 in 100 less at bats…
for once, SHUT UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Here we go again alex68…
Darwin Barney 193 at bats.
Justin Turner 92 at bats.
Turner isn’t even a qualified hitter yet based on at bats/plate appearances
30 more at bats and he’s in.. am i correct??
Not going to comment on which is better but I did want to point out that the whole purpose of using statistics is based on the assumption that what they have done already is what they will do in general.
In the case of percentages BA OBP and SLG doesn’t care how many samples!
If you are saying the numbers can’t be trusted with low samples then how can you trust all the other numbers as well?
Who can say a kid with 500 PA who hit .300 will ever do it again?
You say 100-200 PA or Qualified, is that really enough? 500 isn’t even enough, Try it on Pagan and see if last year alone is enough to prove he is that guy who put up those numbers for REAL!
Point is his NUMBERS are good. You choose not to believe them until a certain amount of time has past.
But you forget the WHOLE reason for looking at the stats…
CAN HE DO A GOOD JOB?
If the number say he DID a good job then he is a GOOD player regardless of the PA involved. HE IS CAPABLE of being that good! How long (Samples) he does it is irrelevant provided he CAN do it!
And if he can then it’s just a matter of doing what he is capable of in every game!
The numbers say he is capable, the numbers say he is capable of being an MLB player!
How long he does it is the job of the manager and coaches to keep him doing what he is capable of and to try and get even more by perfecting what he is capable of doing!
So this sample thing is just an excuse to not count something good as being MET Good in order to press the notion that this team is deadder than the pirates and needs to be flushed!
Turner and Murphy can handle 2B until Tejada or Havens is ready. They might cost you 3 or 4 games defensively but will make up for it with the bat and their versatility in the infield.
It’s not Robinson Cano but it’s not Cora, Catalonotto, Castillo or Hessman either.
Live with it. Put the money into the RIGHT guy when he comes around.
No he’s not cano, But he may be the NEXT guy someone refers to when they say he is like, {insert name here}
Point I was making is the whole purpose of looking at stats is to see what a gy is capable of not how long he was capable of it.
If you know what the guy is capable of doing then it’s just a matter of keeping him doing it!
Until the guy actually fails you have to believe in the numbers that are there because like it or not, believe it or not he HAS done it!
Sampling is only good for evening out trends and fluctuations, But if you can do something you should be able to repeat it. Sampling answer if he did, doing it proved he can!
In August you could see this as an infield…
Davis at 1st, Turner at 2nd, Tejada at SS, Murphy at 3rd.
(Swap Turner and Murphy’s positions if you want!)
We would probably win as many games as we do now Only Davis would be the only real HR hitter so we play more little ball.
Who knows if those guys will ever be superstars in this league, the bottom line is if they can beat the Phillies without Wright and Reyes and Davis on the DL they can beat them when Reyes and Wright get traded and Davis is back.
Not what I would like to see but considering how well Turner and the rest have played it sure would make a ton of sense to Sandy to go with them and solve all the payroll issues in one Trading deadline!
And if they manage to keep us in contention while Wright and Davis get healthy who knows they may be sent off for pitching instead.
Point I was getting to above is be thankful and happy they are doing well. No matter how long it may last at least they have opened some eyes to what they are capable of and therefroe valuable in a trade or in allowing another player to be traded to make us better!
Am I the only one on the Allen Craig bandwagon?
Who dat? Does he play LF?
I don’t have a problem with talking about the possibilites of Gee or Turner being in consideration for ROY because their performance so far merits it.
No one knows what will happen, it is a long season but Turner has shown when he was on that RBI streak and went cold that he could come back and return to hitting the breaking ball and taking the ball to the right side.
Gee showed last year against Braves, playoff bound team not scrubs, that he could pitch against good teams.
His start in Chicago and early season BP innings were bumps and I hope that Terry now sees that Gee needs to remain in rotation, when Santana returns then someone else can be bumped.
How gratifying it is as a Met fan to see some young players come up to Majors, play, produce and help team to succeed since the last time before Ike was Jose and David.
It gives me as a loyal fan optimism for the rest of this season and hope for the future.
No one knows what will happen, injuries, cold streaks but these two guys have shown us that they belong and I hope that SA and Mets do not trade them away cause Gee especially can be a consistent innings eating, keep your team in the game with a low WHIP.
Turner could be our 2b or platoon with Murph or be 2b and Murph can be our super sub after Ike and David return.
Great post and too bad you have trolls that can’t let Met fans have a glimmer of hope for this season and next.
If you watch the way Turner works a pitcher and looks to get the pitch he wants, you can see that this kid has a very good idea about what he’s doing at the plate. It indicates a very strong foundation and approach on which his hitting will evolve in the big leagues. It does NOT indicate that he is over achieving with a small sample size, or that he is playing over his head. He is a very well prepared and polished ball player, which comes from paying his dues in the minors, combined with a lot of natural hitting ability. But many fans on here don’t judge a player’s talents with their own eyes. They judge a player’s talents based solely on numbers. Right Jessup? I guess if you are incapable of interpreting the details of the game, you must rely on the numbers alone. Let me enlighten you, if you think Turner will blow away with the morning mist, he won’t, he is the real deal.