MLB Network likes Yoenis Cespedes and Noah Syndergaard almost as much as Mets fans do.
You can tell Spring Training is only a few weeks away not just by looking at the calendar, but also by the fact that baseball analysts are starting to compile Top Ten lists for the 2017 season.
In this spirit, MLB Network’s Top Ten Right Now! has put out their rankings for every position out there going into this baseball calendar year, and two of our favorite Mets have made the cut.
Starting us off and coming in at #2 overall in the Left Fielders category is La Potencia, Yoenis Cespedes.
As Brian Kenny points out in the video above, the Cespedes-Mets pairing has been amazing for both sides. Not only is Yo getting paid, but he’s also put up monstrous numbers over the year and a half he’s been with the Amazin’s.
Cespedes has a higher on-base percentage (.348 on the Mets, .317 on another team), and a higher slugging percentage (.554 on the Mets, .473 on another team) since signing in New York.
The Mets’ offseason has been relatively slow, but getting this guy back was easily the best call the front office could make. Cespedes’ presence in this lineup is the one guarantee we can have, and him being there for the next four years should keep the Mets in contention the whole time.
MLB Network has also ranked the Mets’ ace, Noah Syndergaard, as a top ten pitcher checking in at #9 overall.
Syndergaard has been everything Mets fans could have wanted and more. Since coming up in 2015, Thor has been incredibly dominant. He has a career ERA of 2.89 and a FIP of 2.72 so far over his almost two seasons in the league.
Last season, Syndergaard dealt with bone spurs in his elbow, and still outperformed his own stats from his rookie season with an absurd FIP of 2.29 and 2.60 ERA.
He has never been afraid to step into the spotlight when the pressure is high either. He won the only World Series game for the Mets in 2015 and uttered one of my all-time favorite quotes after being asked about his first pitch to Alcides Escobar:
"“If they have a problem with me throwing inside, then they can meet me 60-feet, six-inches away. I’ve got no problem with that.”"
Syndergaard would again take the pressure of pitching in the Mets’ biggest game of the season in 2016. He’d pitch an absolute gem in the Wild Card game, striking out 10 over 7 innings of 2-hit ball.
The man is an absolute beast, and I could not be happier to have him on our team.
Next: Mets and Las Vegas: A match that wasn’t made in Heaven
Overall, these rankings are cool, but they always leave someone out. I think after last year’s incredible season Asdrubal Cabrera deserved to land in shortstop list. Maybe that’s my bias but he’s one guy I wouldn’t have minded seeing.
Don’t forget, we’re only 20 days away from pitchers and catchers reporting to Port St. Lucie!