9) Matt Harvey Starts First Citi Field All-Star Game
July 16, 2013, was one of the most exciting days Mets fans had in some time. The Mets were hosting the first All-Star game in their new home of Citi Field and their young ace was starting it. Matt Harvey was in the middle of an amazing year and was awarded the National League All-Stars game starting pitcher as a result.
The last time a Mets pitcher started an All-Star game was in 1988 when Dwight Gooden toed the rubber. The last time the Mets had hosted an All-Star game was in 1964, which was the first year at Shea Stadium. Just four years after the opening of Citi Field, the All-Star Game was back in Queens. Harvey lived up to the hype that night as he fired two scoreless innings while only allowing 1 hit and striking out 3 batters.
Harvey ended up finishing the year fourth in Cy Young award voting with a 2.27 ERA, a 0.93 WHIP, and 191 strikeouts in 178.1 innings. He led the league in FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching) with 2.01 and home runs per nine with 0.4. 2013 was a great year for Harvey personally and the team with him starting the All-Star game in their home park.
8) Daniel Murphys Historic 2015 Postseason Stretch
The Mets had an amazing postseason run in 2015 beating the juggernaut Dodgers in the NLDS and the young highly talented Cubs in the NLCS. This would not have been possible if Daniel Murphy had not had one of the most historic postseason stretches in baseball history.
Murphy set a major league record for most consecutive postseason games with a home run with 6. He also became only the second player to record a hit, an RBI, and a run in seven consecutive postseason games. He was eventually awarded the NLCS MVP for the Mets.
The most impressive thing about Murphy’s home runs was that they were all against top tier pitchers at the time. He hit home runs off of Clayton Kershaw (twice), Zack Greinke, Jon Lester, Jake Arrieta, and Kyle Hendricks.
Murphy was clutch on the bases too as he grabbed an extra-base in NLDS game 5 when Lucas Duda drew a walk and nobody was covering third base. Murphy hit .333/.333/.810/1.143 with home runs and 5 RBI in the NLDS.
Amazingly enough, he hit even better in the NLCS where he slashed .529/.556/1.294/1.850 with 4 home runs and 6 RBI. Murphy put the team on his back in both the NDLS and NLCS and carried them to the World Series for their first World Series appearance in 15 years.