Mets can’t get players into the Home Run Derby anymore

The Mets have no luck when it comes to the Home Run Derby. In the past 25 contests, only one player has entered the derby as a member of the team.

Despite a drastic increase in power over these last few seasons, the New York Mets never get any representation in the Home Run Derby. During the last 25 contests, David Wright is the only player to enter with the team.

Wright first played in the derby in 2006. He made it all the way to the finals before losing to Ryan Howard. He entered again nearly a decade later in 2013 and was eliminated in the first round.

You would expect more Mets players to participate. They have spent most of this century near the bottom of the leader boards in home runs. But they took advantage of the home run surge and have been hitting more and more home runs each year.

Heck, they hit a combined 442 home runs in 2016 and 2017. In 2006 and 2013, they combined for 330.

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Remember the good old days? Back when it seemed the Mets had someone in the derby every couple of years? Now it looks like we’re a lifetime away from those days.

The derby was created in 1985 and in its second year of its existence, Darryl Strawberry not only entered as a member of the team, but won it too. That was the only time a Mets player would win.

In 1989, Howard Johnson entered. In 1990 and 1991, Strawberry and Johnson each entered a second time respectively. Then in 1993, Bobby Bonilla entered. During the first ten years of the derby, three different Mets players entered a total of five times.

After 1993, the only times a Met entered was in 2006 and 2013. A terrible decrease. To make matters worse, not only can’t active Mets make it to the derby, but current players have had a ton of luck with the derby in the past but have no luck anymore.

Let’s look at every player who was on the roster at some point during the 2018 season.

Adrian Gonzalez entered the derby twice, in 2009 and 2011. Jose Bautista entered three times, in 2011, 2012, and 2014. Yoenis Cespedes entered in 2013 and 2014, winning both times. Todd Frazier entered three times and was a finalist each time. He entered in 2014, 2015, and 2016, winning in 2015.

Next: Jacob deGrom’s first All-Star appearance domination

Would you look at that, a current Met won the derby three years in a row from 2013 until 2015. This seems more like some weird conspiracy than just bad luck.