Sep
2
2012

Mets By The Numbers: Finishing Strong

An article by John Delcos

We are at arguably the worst part of the season. The dreams of March and April, followed by the anticipation of a strong start have faded into mediocrity. The second half collapse after the break robbed us of meaningful baseball in September.

Sure, the Mets could play a spoiler role, but really, what fun is that? If the Mets wanted to spoil things for the Nationals they had numerous opportunities this summer.

No, this is the time of year, with winter looming, that forces us to take some statistical interest in the Mets, both as a team and individually. Here’s what I’d like to see:

1) Team: On Sept. 1, finishing .500 and in third place are possible. Third moreso than .500 as the Mets are eight under. Can they finish eight over the rest of the way? They reached that level only once. Of all things, it’s the one I’d like to see most. As far as third place goes, it is better than fourth, but still won’t be close.

2) David Wright: Earlier this summer, when the Mets were streaking and Wright was hovering around .500, he was a legit MVP candidate. He’s at .316 with 17 homers and 78 RBI. It would take a monster September, but I’d like for him to reach over 90 RBI, maybe 100. If he does, he most likely would have over 20 homers and be hitting over .300.

3) R.A. Dickey: He’s at the top of all NL pitching categories. The competition is strong, so even 20 wins – he has 17 – will be formidable for the Cy Young Award. Dickey leads with three shutouts and also has four complete games. All with a tough pitch to master.

4) Ike Davis: Davis was below .200 for much of the season, but is at .224 with 25 homers and 74 RBI now. It would take a blistering month to finish at .240, but if he does, he’ll probably reach the 30 homers and 90 RBI levels. That would be a good season.

5) Jon Niese: He been erratic and has 10 wins. I’d take 13 or 14 now. Would be a nice thing to shoot for.

6) Daniel Murphy: He’s fallen below .300 to .285. I can see him getting back to .295, but .300 would be difficult.

There are others, such as Ruben Tejada hitting .300 and Lucas Duda belting 17 homers. However, for the remainder of the team, for guys like Josh Thole, Andres Torres and Jason Bay, there’s not much left to be aiming for as their numbers are so woefully weak.

For the above, reaching those levels would take some of the sting from the season and perhaps make the winter more palatable. Individual numbers is what passes for meaningful baseball in September for the Mets.

About the Author: John Delcos

I am an active member of the BBWAA and have covered Major League Baseball in several capacities for over 20 years, including ten in New York working the Mets' and Yankees' beat. I covered the Baltimore Orioles for eight years and the Cleveland Indians before that. I currently serve as an editor and senior staff writer for Mets Merized Online. Follow me on Twitter @jdelcos.

5 Comments + Add Comment

theonlymaskman September 2, 2012 at 10:00 am

Meaningful games in September… another broken promise by Mets ownership!
- L.J. Phipps September 2, 2012 at 2:31 pm
  
  3 years in a row same promise …………..
Seligman September 2, 2012 at 11:18 am

With 29 games left and their record at 63-70, .500 isn’t as difficult to achieve as you would think. They would need to go 18-11 and if they continue to get the solid pitching we’ve witnessed in the last two weeks, they could do it. Keep the faith.
Metsie September 2, 2012 at 11:45 am

What their final record is and where Wright winds up doesn’t really concern me and would most likely disapoint me if they do what you hope merely because if we get to .500 then those games the pen cost us earlier would be the difference in being above .500 and still in the wildcard race!

And whatever Wright does I don’t expect him to be here long if the FO has thier way! Doing well would only make it easier to trade him as they will be able to get better kids to explain away losing a homegrown hero!

I think Dickey leads in most of the categories that matter in the CY voting with the exception of ERA right now. G-Gon, and Cueto all have 17 wins but Dickey has fewer losses, Of those three Dickey has the bette K numbers and Whip and you already mentioned the 5 CG and 3 Shutouts.

Ike Davis if you don’t look at his BA which is the product of a long early slump that I attribute to missing all the time he did last year….It is rather remarkable that he is even in the running to hit 30 HRs!

If he could hit 25 HRs (only 5 of which he hit the first two months when he was struggling) How many would he be capable of hitting if he batted a full season the way he has since June? A roughly .260-.280 Hitter with 30+ HRs? A little improvement and he could be hitting 40+ a year…Almost as many as Ryan Howard hits only with a much better glove!

Niese has progressed no doubt. There is a little room for improvement on the consistency but lets face it he has not had a consistent Signal caller behind the plate while Terry has played Righty lefty at whim, and with a little run support would have a much better record. There are times he looks like he could be an ace and others where you wonder who is wearing that Ace’s jersey! If he ever figures out how to win on days he does not have his stuff he could compete for the Cy Young one day…:Lets hope he learns how to do that soon.

In the end though nothing they can do will make me feel better about this team going forward because I don’t think the team is going to be the problem in the future…
I think the problem is will we keep any of these guys who are doing well cause past events say no!
Mr North Jersey September 2, 2012 at 12:31 pm

With last night’s win they would have to go 18-11 the rest of the way to finish .500 facing teams like the Cardinals, Nationals and Braves to do so. Odds don’t look good but I’ll be watching nonetheless.

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