Ever since the Mets acquired Yoenis Cespedes, he has been nothing short of incredible. In 47 games, he’s terrorized National League pitching with a .293 average 17 home runs and 42 RBI. He’s one of the biggest reasons why the Mets are poised to win their first division title since 2006 as his power and presence in the lineup has undoubtedly energized the team.
The other day I was discussing with MMO readers TRS and Mr. North Jersey if any Mets’ player has even come close to the type of stretch Cespedes is having. One recent example that immediately came to mind was Carlos Delgado in 2008, but how does he compare to Cespedes?
2008 was a remarkable season for Delgado even though he started the year mired in a deep slump. His poor start fueled speculation that his best days were behind him at the age of 36, but he quickly silenced all of his critics with a huge second half.
It all started with a historic day at Yankee Stadium.
Delgado crushed two home runs and drove in a Subway Series record of nine RBI as the Mets pummeled the Yankees 15-6. His 9 RBI performance still stands as a club record, and it was exactly the spark he needed to turn his season around.
Delgado batted .308 with 27 home runs, 80 RBI and a 1.018 OPS during his final 84 games that season. To put this in perspective, his OPS is higher than Cespedes’ .986 mark despite playing in a larger sample size of games.
It’s worth noting that Cespedes provides value in other areas with his speed and defense while Delgado was a prototypical slugging first baseman. Still, the fact that Delgado’s statistics are right up there with Cespedes really shows what tremendous power hitter he really was.
Unfortunately, the Mets fell short of the playoffs in 2008 despite Delgado’s heroic efforts. It would also be his last full season in the majors as he suffered a career ending hip injury the following year.
The Mets lineup was never the same once Delgado retired, and the Mets have been searching for years for someone to step up and replace his production. Now that the Mets finally found someone in Cespedes, they need to do everything they can to keep him in a Mets uniform.
