Last week the New York Mets announced this year’s Sterling Award winners, honoring the top players throughout their minor league system. It got me to wondering who the top rookie has been for the Mets this season.
The Mets have had 11 players make their major league debuts this year, but clearly the two biggest standouts have been outfielder Michael Conforto and right-hander Noah Syndergaard, respectively the organization’s top hitting and pitching prospects. Both players have made a significant impact with the Mets, but if you had to pick one Rookie of the Year, which way would you go? I decided to pose this question to some of our writers.
Stephanie – My choice would have to be Conforto. He’s a solid hitter with an extremely patient approach and a keen hitting eye. Even as a rookie who skipped Triple-A, he consistently produced at the plate and always puts together great at-bats. He has some serious pop in his bat that, when honed in on, can make him extremely dangerous at the plate. His defensive side showcases an arm that’s average in strength but pinpoint in accuracy. The rest of his defense is arguably above average and will only continue to get better. If I had to rate him based on being a “five tool player”, I’d say he has the potential to master three out of five tools: hitting for average, hitting for power, and having great fielding skills. I’d even venture to say that his arm could be rated high because it’s so accurate.
Tommy – Thor. He’s played nearly a full season and been very solid. Conforto only played two months and took a little while to get going (aside from the 4-hit game to kick things off). Both have been great this year for the Mets, so this isn’t a knock on Conforto, whose defense has been a plus rather than the minus we were told to expect by scouts. I’m extremely excited about both of them going forward. In some ways, it comes down to personal preference. Would you rather the guy who has a huge impact on the game when he’s playing, but only plays once every five or six games? Or would you rather have the guy who plays nearly every day, but only impacts three or four at-bats a game?
Avery – Michael Conforto has been impressive so far. However, it is a limited sample of only 51 games, and most of his 157 AB coming against righties only. No rookie on this team will impress me more than Noah Syndergaard has all season long. He capped it off with an incredible start against the Cincinnati Reds this past weekend. After and during the start, I was texting my brother telling him how I thought it was the best start a Mets pitcher has put together all year. Overall, the 22-year-old has pitched to a 3.34 ERA in 143 innings. His strikeouts are also impressive with 156. Sure, he has shown that he is still a young pitcher learning the game. He has had some rough outings and has struggled on the road quite a bit. But he has shown his willingness as a gamer to come out every fifth day and flash some of the best raw tools in baseball. Let’s see him put it all together and carry his performance against the Reds into the Playoffs, where he will have a chance to shine in the National spotlight.
Teddy – I like Conforto better. I was on the fence regarding calling him up since we haven’t had much success with prospects hitting the ground running. But Conforto did a great job adjusting and showed himself to be the hitter scouts were raving about. While Syndergaard is every bit as deserving, as they’ve both been excellent rookies so far, Conforto helped revive the offense and his steady bat was definitely needed.
Roger – Syndergaard is this year’s top rookie. This is no slight on Conforto, who I think is going to be a great player and our likable version of Harper, but Thor has been our top freshman. He took our rotation from having the Big Two to the Terrifying Three. He allowed 2 or fewer runs in 12 of his 23 starts and 3 or fewer runs in 15 starts. He’s going to be a force for years to come and even though his overall numbers are not deGrom or Harvey-esque yet… this is a kid who just turned 23 and is still at the starting line. No one else in the postseason has a number three they want to face less than Thor. That says it all.
Matt Balasis – Hard to compare a position player to a pitcher, but Syndergaard is special. Between his 10.31 K/9, his 1.89 BB/9, his 2.95 xFIP, 3.0 WAR and his nine wins, Noah’s numbers are anything but rookie like. Conforto has eight home runs, 29 runs, 24 RBI, a .516 SLG and an .866 OPS in 177 PA. Not shabby at all — good for a 1.9 WAR. Conforto deepens the lineup and is part of the reason why the Mets enjoyed an offensive resurgence in the second half. I predicted in the Spring that he’d be a September cal- up and he beat my prediction. The kid’s swing is an absolute thing of beauty. But Syndergaard when he takes the mound is scary as hell. It’s not just the incredible power, Noah is smart, his secondary pitches are lethal, and he’s been getting better and better at mixing them up. The Mets can probably muddle through with Conforto on the bench, but Syndergaard is one of the big guns responsible for turning this organization around. It’s a really tough call, but for the Mets, in 2015, i’d have to go with the pitcher.
Brian Mangan – As much as we all love Conforto, and he has pleasantly exceeded expectations, the Mets’ Rookie of the Year is undoubtedly Noah Syndergaard. When was the last time you even thought about Syndergaard *as* a rookie? When was the last time you doubted that Thor was going to be one of the Mets top three starters in the playoffs? Thor burst onto the scene this year on May 12th and hasn’t looked back. He has posted a 3.34 ERA over 143 strong innings, striking out 156 batters along the way (he’s even hitting .214!). He carried the load through the darkest parts of the season, without missing a turn, posting a 1.32 ERA over 34 innings in July when the season threatened to spiral out of control. As good as Conforto has been, he’s been icing on the cake compared to Thor, without whom the season might have been lost.
Brian Greenzang – I cannot remember the last time this team was blessed with so many great young stars. Choosing between Noah Syndergaard and Michael Conforto seems like choosing between Katy Perry and Scarlett Johansson for me. Both of these guys are great and are going to be stars. They do not seem to lack anything in any department. Syndergaard has shown he can handle the pressure of playing at this level all while completely dominating opposing line-ups. Conforto has shown the look of a true veteran at the plate, never cheating himself out of a good at-bat. Something that really was not talked too much about with Conforto was his fielding in the minors and boy has he made some stellar plays in the field. If I had to choose one for top rookie, it would be hard not to go with Thor. He is about to start a playoff game in his rookie year with the weight of nine years of playoff drought on his shoulders. Syndergaard has already proven he is the real deal and a star, not to say Conforto hasn’t, but I would have to give the nod to Thor as the team’s rookie of the year.
XtreemIcon – I give the award to Conforto this season because he’s outshone Syndergaard even in limited playing time. And we all know that’s not an easy feat as Thor has been fantastic. However, when you compare the numbers, Conforto comes out ahead. His 2.0 fWAR in 52 games extrapolates to about 6.0 over a full season, while Thor’s 3.0 in 23 starts would give him around 4.5 over 34 starts. Conforto has a 138 OPS+ against Thor’s 112 ERA+. Furthermore, if Conforto played only 100 games at his current rate, he’d still be considered the second best left fielder in all of baseball behind Yoenis Cespedes. Speaking only of offense, Conforto is 4th among left fielders with a 139 wRC+, ahead of even Cespedes at 135, and not one of the three ahead of him are full time left fielders. What Conforto has done in such a short time is remarkable. Syndergaard, while having a great season, just isn’t dominating his game like Conforto is. Thor’s extrapolated 4.5 fWAR would make him 16th best and his 112 ERA+ puts him well outside the top ten. Additionally, I give extra points to Conforto for scarcity of skills. Thor could be a perennial All Star and still be maybe the fourth best pitcher on the staff. Perhaps fifth if Zack Wheeler finds control. But Conforto is the most dangerous bat the Mets have developed since David Wright and while there are some exciting candidates in the minors, no one on the horizon has Conforto’s ceiling. Congratulations to Michael Conforto, my 2015 Mets Rookie of the Year.
Michael Branda – Both Conforto and Syndergaard have continued to shine a bright light on the Mets development of young players. I think Conforto has a bright future, but to me – his 2015 season has been carried mostly by a red hot August. Syndergaard has been reliable all year long. Sure, he’s had his struggles at times, but that is expected of a young pitcher. Choosing between them is a great problem to have, but at the end of the day – Syndergaard’s year long impact outweighs Conforto’s brief success.
Michael Mayer – For me I think the most impressive Mets rookie has been Michael Conforto despite having less time in the Big Leagues. Conforto has a slash line of .274/.340/.518 giving him a .858 OPS which is just below the .871 OPS Yoenis Cespedes has overall this year. His slugging percentage is fourth among rookies this year and he has shown impressive opposite field power for a 22-year old kid. He has produced a 2.2 WAR in only 54 Major League games. Michael has exceeded expectations for me offensively but even more impressively is how he has played in the outfield where he looked so-so to me when I saw him in the Minors. He has shown off his plus arm which he did so in Minors but has gotten to balls that I didn’t think he was capable off. If the Mets were unable to bring back Cespedes I think Conforto could arguably be the best hitter on the team in 2016. None of this is to overlook the great season Noah Syndergaard has had pitching the fourth most innings of any rookie pitcher while striking out the most with 156.
Joe D. – As much as I’d love to give my vote to Syndergaard and have him come away with a sizable 7-5 victory, I’ve got to go with Conforto which leaves us in a 6-6 deadlock. It looks like the readers will have to be the tie-breaker. I love Thor and watching him pitch has been one of the many highlights of experienced this season. However, Conforto helped change the dynamic and the direction of the team as soon as he was promoted. That he accomplished what he has with less than 50 games above Single-A is not only remarkable but it makes you wonder just how much better will he be next season and beyond as he becomes more and more adaptive to the major leagues? If you were to prorate his numbers this season over 160 games we’re talking over 40 doubles and over 25 home runs with a slugging percentage north of .500., all while providing spectacular defense in left field. In 50 games he already has a 2.2 WAR which suggests plenty of 7-9 WAR seasons in his future. To put that into context, David Wright has only had three seasons with a 6+ WAR in his incredible and spectacular career. So no knock on Syndergaard, but yeah… I gotta go with Conforto.
