Mets led to the postseason by MVP David Wright in our 2005 simulation

The 2005 virtual New York Mets got an MVP season out of third baseman David Wright and a trip back to the postseason.

Hope is on the way for the virtual New York Mets! Jose Reyes and David Wright have arrived to the major league roster. Through free agency, the club now has Pedro Martinez in the rotation and Carlos Beltran in the middle of the lineup.

Things are looking up for the 2005 Mets!

I’m excited to begin this simulation. First, let’s recap every past Mets season up until this point:

1962: 52-108
1963: 43-119
1964: 44-118
1965: 50-112
1966: 56-105
1967: 64-98
1968: 74-88
1969: 93-69
1970: 101-61 (NLCS loss 3-2)
1971: 100-62 (World Series Champions)
1972: 80-76
1973: 83-77
1974: 72-90
1975: 75-87
1976: 88-74
1977: 78-84
1978: 68-94
1979: 64-98
1980: 65-97
1981: 34-69
1982: 69-93
1983: 64-98
1984: 83-79
1985: 98-64 (NLCS loss 4-3)
1986: 90-72
1987: 95-67 (NLCS loss 4-3)
1988: 99-63 (World Series Champions)
1989: 110-52 (World Series loss 4-1)
1990: 103-59 (World Series loss 4-0)
1991: 84-77
1992: 76-86
1993: 80-82
1994: 43-70
1995: 74-70
1996: 74-88
1997: 89-73
1998: 88-74
1999: 92-70
2000: 85-77
2001: 76-86
2002: 74-87
2003: 54-107
2004: 82-80

The 1980s are way in the past. It’s time to make it back to the postseason.

Preseason Predictions

Here’s some good news; the preseason predictions have the Mets going 90-72. This puts them in second place in the NL East and gives them the third-best overall record in the NL. Is a Wild Card berth in their future?

Finally, some Mets are also back in the top ten of the preseason predictions. David Wright is expected to slash .327/.425/.599 with 41 home runs and 126 RBI. Meanwhile, Pedro Martinez is projected to go 15-7 with a 2.88 ERA.

Spring did go well for the team. They finished 16-14. Mike Piazza had the second-best batting average (.361) and Mike Cameron was third (.357). This could be the year when the playoff drought ends. Let’s see if they can pull it off.

Regular Season Results

The virtual Mets haven’t had a first-half like this in a few years. It looks like the competition in the NL East will be the Florida Marlins.

At the All-Star Break, the club was 54-34 and one game ahead of the Marlins. The rest of the NL East is 9 games back or more.

Pedro Martinez went 11-3 with a 2.19 ERA in the first half. The team has gotten a surprisingly stellar performance from Yusmeiro Petit who sits at 9-1 with a 2.20 ERA in the first half.

The offense has been the main reason why they are succeeding. David Wright, Carlos Beltran, and Mike Piazza have already hit 20+ home runs. Jose Reyes leads the league with 48 stolen bases, too.

The second half brought plenty of excitement. The Mets are alive and have one of the best rosters in the league. They’ll have to really screw things up to miss the postseason.

Fortunately, this wasn’t the case. The Mets put plenty of distance between themselves and the Marlins. After 162 games, they were 97-65. Their record beat out the rest of the NL East teams and put them in the postseason for the first time since 1990.

NLDS

The first-round opponent for the Mets are the 84-78 Arizona Diamondbacks. The Mets are clear early favorites with the fourth-best offense and their best pitching staff in the league.

Game 1: Pedro Martinez led things off for the Mets but it was closer Braden Looper who earned the win. By a score of 2-1, the Mets take an early series lead thanks to some help from a Carlos Beltran home run.

Game 2: The Mets took a 2-0 lead in the second game behind a strong performance by Yusmeiro Petit. The score in this game was 6-3 and aided by home runs from Victor Diaz and Mike Jacobs.

Game 3: There was no mercy in Arizona in Game 3. The Mets won 10-0. Mike Piazza and Victor Diaz each hit home runs in this bludgeoning. Diaz slashed .417/.417/.917 in the series and took home NLDS MVP honors.

We move onto the NLCS where the Mets will look to climb one step closer to a parade.

NLCS

A familiar opponent faces the Mets in the NLCS. The Marlins made it past the Houston Astros and will look to take down the NL East Champions. The Mets were 11-7 in the regular season against them. With home-field advantage, they should come away victorious.

Game 1: The Mets dropped the first game 3-2. Dontrelle Willis outpitched Pedro Martinez to take an early lead.

Game 2: Looking for vengeance, the Mets took the second game 7-3. Victor Diaz continued to mash at the plate with a pair of home runs.

Game 3: The Mets couldn’t get anything going in this game. They dropped it 4-0.

Game 4: Up against the ropes, the strong Marlins pitching proved too much for the Mets in this game. A 5-2 loss puts the Mets one game away from elimination.

Game 5: The series ends with New York losing 2-1. David Wright added his third home run of the series. It wasn’t enough.

Despite the Mets losing in five, Wright earns the NLCS MVP Award. He batted .444/.524/1.056 with 3 home runs. He was the only player on the entire roster to hit above .235. The season is over and the Mets leave the field in disappointment.

Honors

Three Mets were voted into the All-Star Game and they had company. Mike Piazza, David Wright, and Carlos Beltran all received enough votes to get into the All-Star Game as starters. They were joined by Pedro Martinez.

In Wright’s first All-Star appearance, he hit a pair of home runs, drove in four, and won the game’s MVP award. Piazza and Beltran each added a hit while Martinez enjoyed the game from the bullpen.

Wright’s career is off to a fine start. He is the first Mets player in this simulation to take home the All-Star Game MVP.

Wright’s honors didn’t end there. With a .340 batting average, he became the first player in franchise history to win a batting title. He finished one point ahead of the Marlins’ Miguel Cabrera to secure some Flushing history.

As if that wasn’t enough, Wright also took home the National League MVP Award. His 9.4 WAR led all position players. He also added a Silver Slugger Award to his resume. Center fielder Carlos Beltran did the same.

Notable Individual Statistics

Wright belted 38 home runs and hit .340. His 114 runs scored led the league. He set some individual team records. These include his .618 slugging percentage, 1.038 OPS, 9.4 WAR, and 353 total bases.

The Mets also got fine performances from Carlos Beltran and Mike Piazza. Beltran hit 38 home runs and drove in 112 while hitting .292. Piazza added 31 home runs and knocked in 106.

Jose Reyes ran all over opposing teams with 87 stolen bases.

On the mound, the Mets got a 19-6 performance out of Pedro Martinez complete with a 2.30 ERA. Yusmeiro Petit went 15-4 with a 2.84 ERA and finished the year as their number two. Victor Zambrano and Kris Benson each had surprisingly good years, each winning 10+ games with ERAs in the 3.60s. It was especially pleasant considering Tom Glavine suffered an early season-ending injury.

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This season had plenty of positives to take into the 2006 campaign. Wright is already a star and we’ll have to see if he can lead the team even further in our next simulated season.