Despite the Mets devastating loss to the Royals in the World Series, Curtis Granderson is already looking forward to next year. Granderson expects the team to build off their success this season and believes they can return to the World Series again in 2016.
“I’m excited about everything that we have… The confidence will be high, but we definitely have to continue to do some more work, get after it and look to improve on all the different things that we can from this 2015 season and hopefully carry that into 2016.” (Peter Botte, NY Daily News)
“Looking at where we were, considering what everyone was saying about us, how we continued to believe in ourselves, the acquisitions that we made, the guys that came up and proved that they belonged, it’s definitely a good experience to go ahead and bring with us going forward,” Granderson said. “At the same time, we can’t take anything for granted. We can’t assume that’s going to be something that’s going to happen.”
While the middle of the Mets order will look much different if both Yoenis Cespedes and Daniel Murphy are not signed, he’s absolutely correct that New York could be a great team once again. The same excellent young staff that carried the team all summer long will still be here, and it will even get better with the impending return of Zack Wheeler.
And Granderson himself is another reason to be excited for next year. Even though he will soon be 35 years old, he had one of the best seasons of his career this season, and he appears to keep evolving and getting better as a player.
In 157 games this season, he batted .259 with 26 home runs and 70 RBI out of the leadoff spot. He posted an .821 OPS overall, and he even carried his excellent production into the postseason. He belted three homeruns along with 12 RBI and four steals in 14 games.
“I looked at it as I tried to do anything and everything to help our team win ballgames, whether it be offensively or defensively, verbally, leading by example, whatever I had to do,” Granderson said about his season early Monday morning after the Mets dropped Game 5 to the Royals. “And that’s going to be my goal going into next year. Just try to put our team in the best situation to be able to be successful.”
He’s quietly been one of the team’s best players this season, and he should be counted on again for another great year next season.
