Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com recently ranked the Top 10 MLB Pitcher and Catcher Batteries and the Mets were very well represented, occupying three of the 10 spots. The rankings were based on Projected WAR.
9. Noah Syndergaard and Travis d’Arnaud, Mets (Projected WAR: 6.9)
D’Arnaud holds up his end of the bargain, with the sixth-highest projected WAR tally (2.8) of any catcher. Steamer sees him posting a .257/.320/.445 slash line with 16 homers and 54 RBIs in 426 plate appearances, while delivering terrific defense. As for Syndergaard, he’s pegged for a 4.1 WAR, thanks to a 3.14 ERA and 194 strikeouts in 176 innings over 29 starts in his sophomore season. Basically, Steamer expects him to continue to be a Thor(n) in people’s sides again this year.
7. Jacob deGrom and Travis d’Arnaud, Mets (Projected WAR: 7.2)
DeGrom followed up his 2014 National League Rookie of the Year Award-winning turn with a ’15 showing in which he finished seventh in the NL Cy Young Award voting. Little wonder, then, that Steamer predicts him to contribute a 3.17 ERA in 203 innings over 32 starts, good for a 4.4 WAR.
4. Matt Harvey and Travis d’Arnaud, Mets (Projected WAR: 7.4)
Harvey is their projected rotation WAR leader, with a 4.6 mark that is just two ticks ahead of deGrom’s tally. The Mets quite famously slowed Harvey’s innings progression toward the end of the regular season last year, and then he blew by the 200-inning mark in the postseason. Steamer sees him posting his first official 200-inning campaign (203, to be precise), with a 3.09 ERA, a 1.10 WHIP and 207 strikeouts.
It’s always fun to look at these projections especially when they paint the Mets in such a positive light. It’s also not far-fetched to think the Mets can exceed these WAR projections. I see plenty of room for improvement on the 2.8 WAR projection for d’Arnaud, especially if he gives the Mets 130 games this season.
