Mets Statistics: Rick Reed has the second-highest winning percentage

Only one other pitcher in New York Mets history has a higher winning percentage than Rick Reed.

What do Dwight Gooden and Tom Seaver have in common? Each is a legendary New York Mets pitcher who knew how to win games.

Gooden ended his tenure with the Mets with a winning percentage of .649. It’s the best of any pitcher in team history. Seaver’s time with the organization ended with a .615 winning percentage. He has plenty of other franchise records so let’s not worry about his third-place finish.

Between them is a guy not too many fans might expect. With a .621 winning percentage as a member of the Mets, Rick Reed is second to only Gooden on the all-time Mets list.

In parts of five seasons with the Mets, winning came easy for Reed. He went 59-36 while pitching to a 3.66 ERA. He wasn’t nearly as talented as Gooden or Seaver or any many other pitchers in club history for that matter. Reed somehow found a way to come away victorious, winning double-digits in all four of his complete years in Flushing.

The one year Reed didn’t finish in a Mets uniform included another eight wins. Together, they make up an impressive winning percentage I’m not sure anyone saw coming or realizes he had.

Reed was fortunate to play for the Mets when he did. The club had some pretty good teams from 1997-2001. He was able to get by with run-support even in years when he wasn’t as sharp. The 1999 season is the best example of this. Despite a 4.58 ERA, Reed went 11-5.

I know wins don’t necessarily matter for a starting pitcher these days. Back in the late 1990s, they had a little more value. Pitchers would go much deeper into games. Even Reed, a guy who was never the club’s ace, had two years with the Mets featuring 200+ innings. This statistic is more important than his actual winning percentage—a number that doesn’t define greatness in a starter.

Throughout his time with the organization, Reed was one of the unsung heroes on the mound. Fans certainly appreciated him and knew the team had a chance at winning when his name was penciled into the lineup.

His talent, a helpful offense, and occasional dumb luck all helped Reed take the second-highest winning percentage in Mets history. Reed was the quintessential late-bloomer, first establishing himself in the big leagues in 1997 in his age 32 season.

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Fortunately for him and the Metropolitans, he had a few years in his 30s left to win some ball games.