You could make the claim that Yoenis Cespedes has been the biggest key to the Mets success in 2015, even if he only joined the team more than halfway through the season. Or perhaps you could even say that Jacob deGrom has been the most important piece to the puzzle for a team that just won its first division title in nine years. However, Mets manager Terry Collins believes Curtis Granderson has been the most consistent Met this year.
“For me, he’s been one of the biggest pieces of the whole puzzle,” said Collins.
In his 11th season, and just his second as a Met, Granderson finished third on the team in HR (26), third in RBI with 70, and had a slugging percentage of .457 out of the leadoff spot. While his average wasn’t anything to write home about, Granderson was able to get on base quite a bit, having drawn a total of 91 walks. The Mets were searching for some kind of consistency out of the leadoff spot, and they were able to find it this year with Granderson.
Granderson is slated to start Game 1 of the NLDS tomorrow night against Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw, despite the fact that he has hit just .183 against lefties all year. None of that matters to Granderson, Collins, or any of his teammates for that matter. Granderson knows it’s all about being prepared, and having a little bit of fun along the way. He’s excited to get the chance to help guide the Mets back to the World Series.
“I think there’s a lot of fun being had on this ballclub,” Granderson said. “No matter what level or what time of season, you have to find a way to have fun with it. There are a lot of guys joking around, staying very loose and relaxed. I think that’s a key for us moving forward. Stay focused and concentrated on the task at hand.”
Right now, the task at hand is finding a way to get past the Dodgers and reach the NLCS, a place they haven’t been since 2006 when they faced the St. Louis Cardinals. It’s not going to be easy with all the youth this Mets team has, but Granderson doesn’t believe that will be a problem.
“The good thing about the young guys is that they’ve played in big games up to this,” said Granderson. “They’ve been scouted, they’ve been ranked. It’s not going to be the first time they’ve played on a big stage.
After all, perhaps it’s Granderson who knows his teammates better than anyone, and who also may have the most influence in the clubhouse. When asked recently about his teammate Matt Harvey‘s tardiness to a team workout, Granderson believes it was all blown out of proportion by the media.
“Everybody has to look at it from this way: Have you ever been late before?” Granderson said. “If you can answer no then it’s obviously a huge question. But you think back to it, everybody has been late at some point in time over the course of their life, their career, whatever it happens to be. It happens. We’re human. We’re going to sleep through the clock, we’re going to misread the time, a battery is going to die on us- especially because we rely on technology so much. All of those different things are going to happen at some point in time and it’s going to continue to happen because we’re human.”
Just another reason as to why Granderson’s influence on his team goes much further than with his bat. He has played a key role in the clubhouse as well, and it’s gone a long way for the Mets’ success this season. He’s a class act and I wouldn’t bet against him in this NLDS.
