Mets Madness Round Three Sweet 16 Schedule and Predictions

Our Mets Madness Tournament to find the fans’ favorite player reaches its Sweet 16. Who goes onto the Elite 8?

Rising Apple’s Mets Madness Tournament to find the fans’ favorite player in New York Mets history is now in its Sweet 16 stage. In round two, we narrowed the field down even further to what will hopefully lead to a few more tight fights in the next eight days.

In case you’re new to Mets Madness, you can follow along daily on the Rising Apple Twitter page to vote.

Before we move along to the schedule and some predictions for round three, let’s recap what happened in round two:

January 6: Jacob deGrom (2) wins with 89% of the vote over Wilmer Flores (7)
January 7: Gary Carter (5) wins with 61% of the vote over Ron Darling (4)
January 8: Bartolo Colon (3) wins with 58% of the vote over Rusty Staub (6)
January 9: Tom Seaver (1) wins with 92% of the vote over Cleon Jones (9)
January 10: Noah Syndergaard (6) wins with 70% of the vote over Carlos Beltran (3)
January 11: Edgardo Alfonzo (2) wins with 65% of the vote over Yoenis Cespedes (10)
January 12: Jose Reyes (5) wins with 58% of the vote over Johan Santana (4)
January 13: Darryl Strawberry (3) wins with 72% of the vote over John Franco (11)
January 14: Mike Piazza (1) wins with 95% of the vote over Jesse Orosco (8)
January 15: Ed Kranepool (2) wins with 71% of the vote over Tommie Agee (10)
January 16: Dwight Gooden (2) wins with 85% of the vote over Bud Harrelson (10)
January 17: Tug McGraw (3) wins with 84% of the vote over Jerry Grote (6)
January 18: Keith Hernandez (1) wins with 79% of the vote over Mookie Wilson (8)
January 19: Jerry Koosman (4) wins with 63% of the vote over Nolan Ryan (12)
January 20: Robin Ventura (5) wins with 63% of the vote over John Olerud (4)
January 21: David Wright (1) wins with 91% of the vote Michael Conforto (9)

Notable Number From Round Two

Biggest Victory: Mike Piazza takes down Jesse Orosco with 95% of the vote

Closest Call: Bartolo Colon and Jose Reyes each edged their opponent with 58% of the vote

Biggest Underdog Advancing: Noah Syndergaard (6) is the highest seed in the Sweet 16

We begin round three on January 22 when current Mets Jacob deGrom (2) and Noah Syndergaard (6) go head-to-head. A year ago, the results would be flipped. However, with a Cy Young Award now on his mantle, deGrom is the favorite here. Syndergaard should give him a good fight, but it’s deGrom who will make the Elite 8.

The next day is yet another battle we should see some back and forth with. Keith Hernandez (1) faces off against Gary Carter (5). Carter is in the National Baseball Hall of Fame, yes. However, Hernandez had a better career with the Mets. I think Hernandez wins this in a close race to the finish. Give me Hernandez with about 60% of the vote.

On January 24, Edgardo Alfonzo (2) goes against Bartolo Colon (3). Colon has many detractors and they will come out to vote for Fonzie. I could see an upset due to a bias toward recent Mets. Alfonzo should still win albeit with fewer votes than he deserves.

Our January 25 match-up sees Tom Seaver (1) go up against Jerry Koosman (4). Seaver is an easy favorite to win the whole dang tournament. After all, he’s the greatest Mets player of all-time. Koosman should get some love. It won’t be nearly enough.

The second-half of round three includes two Mets near and dear to the hearts of many fans. David Wright (1) will face the man he played alongside for years, Jose Reyes (5). Reyes has made it this far and in this match-up, it all ends. I see Wright winning by a lot and making his way into the Elite 8 with ease.

Next up, a match-up we all want to see. Dwight Gooden (2) goes up against Darryl Strawberry (3). These two rose up with the Mets in a similar era and had careers that paralleled each other both on and off the field. While I do think Gooden has a slight advantage because he was the better overall player, there’s no reason why Strawberry can’t win.

We near the end of the Sweet 16 with Mike Piazza (1) facing off against Robin Ventura (5). Ventura has made it further than I expected. Piazza still stands as a favorite to win the tournament so he can hit all of the grand slam singles he wants. Piazza is going to win this round with ease yet again.

Finally, we wrap things up when Ed Kranepool (2) tries to fend off Tug McGraw (3). Kranepool is a lifetime Met and an everyday position player, but McGraw has the notable “Ya Gotta Believe” catchphrase that still survives 50 years later. This could lead to an upset. Of all the match-ups in round three, this one may end up as the closest.

To wrap things up, you can look forward to these match-ups in round three:

January 22: Jacob deGrom (2) vs. Noah Syndergaard (6)
January 23: Keith Hernandez (1) vs. Gary Carter (5)
January 24: Edgardo Alfonzo (2) vs. Bartolo Colon (3)
January 25: Tom Seaver (1) vs. Jerry Koosman (4)
January 26: David Wright (1) vs. Jose Reyes (5)
January 27: Dwight Gooden (2) vs. Darryl Strawberry (3)
January 28: Mike Piazza (1) vs. Robin Ventura (5)
January 29: Ed Kranepool (2) vs. Tug McGraw (3)

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