Mets: 15 best starting pitchers all-time in franchise history

The 15 best New York Mets starting pitchers range from current members of the roster to some of the early greats.

Starting pitching has gotten the New York Mets far in many seasons. Way back in 1969, it was the most important factor in their championship. It was equally as vital in 1986 although the offense was pretty great, too.

Multiple Cy Young winners, a few Hall of Famers, and some sensational rookies have all worn the Mets orange and blue. Among them all, who is the best?

You probably already know the answer to a few of these spots. But from number fifteen down to the top spot, you may be in for a few surprises.

15) Best Mets Starting Pitcher – Noah Syndergaard

Before the Noah Syndergaard haters bounce, let’s review some of the numbers as to why he is in the franchise’s top 15.

Syndergaard is 13th in pitcher WAR, tied for 15th in ERA, and tied for 19th with 47 wins. The two players he is tied with in wins are Jesse Orosco and Tug McGraw, two of the great closers in franchise history.

In addition to these numbers, I think Syndergaard is worthy of a place on this list because of how often he has won. He is one of five Mets with a career winning percentage over .600. There’s something to be said about a guy that always gives his team a chance at victory.

The best part about Syndergaard is that his time with the Mets isn’t even done. He should be back for the 2021 season. With any luck, he stays in Flushing a little longer and has an opportunity to climb up higher on this list.

14) Mets Best Starting Pitcher – Bret Saberhagen

Bret Saberhagen won a pair of Cy Young Awards before he joined the Mets. When he arrived in New York, his best days were behind him.

Even so, Saberhagen managed to put together some quality numbers during his tenure with the ball club. If not for injuries, they would have looked much better.

Saberhagen wasn’t an elite pitcher for the Mets, but he was certainly a very good one. In each of his four and a half seasons with the team, he finished with an ERA of 3.50 or lower. Unfortunately, each of those seasons included a stay on the DL or a shortened season.

In 1994, Saberhagen was on his way to having a brilliant year with the Mets. The Player’s Strike limited him to 24 starts which featured a 14-4 record and 2.74 ERA.

The following year, with the strike cutting out a portion of the early schedule, Saberhagen had even fewer chances to shine with the Mets. He was traded mid-year to the Colorado Rockies thus ending his often forgotten time with the team in Queens.

Although he’s only 19th in WAR for pitchers—including all relievers—it’s Saberhagen’s 3.16 ERA that has me move him ahead of Thor on this list. That’s the 12th best by any Mets pitcher in franchise history.

The Mets didn’t get an excellent pitcher for many years when they acquired Saberhagen. They did, however, get a steady and reliable starter. Because he was on several horrendously bad teams, I think many overlooked how excellent he was at times.

13) Mets Best Starting Pitcher – Bob Ojeda

For fans of the 1986 Mets, you’re in luck. There are plenty of starting pitchers from that rotation on this list. Bob Ojeda is just the first I’ll mention.

When putting this list together, it’s not always the easiest thing to rank each of these starting pitcher contemporaries. Ojeda could easily be higher on this list, but I think it’s a fair spot at number thirteen because of how short his best years were while with the Mets.

Ojeda was one of the veteran starters on the Mets during their Golden Years of the 1980s. After some struggles with the Boston Red Sox, things turned around for him as a member of the Mets. There is no better example than what he accomplished in year one during the 1986 World Series run.

Ojeda finished his first year in New York with an impressive 18-5 record. He was fourth in the Cy Young voting and the man that won the first World Series game for the Mets when they faced off against his former team.

The fun didn’t stop there. Ojeda remained a productive member of the rotation for several more seasons. By the time it was over, he etched himself in franchise history as one of the best.

The most notable ranking for Ojeda is his 3.12 ERA. This is the ninth-best of any qualified pitcher in Mets history. We shouldn’t underrate the ability to keep runs from scoring. I understand other metrics are just as or more important to the modern fan. Sometimes, we simply need to dive back and look at ERA to get an idea of how important a pitcher was.

12) Mets Best Starting Pitcher – Ron Darling

I warned you there would be more 1986 Mets starting pitchers, didn’t I? Well, here’s another. His name is Ron Darling.

Darling’s place in franchise history goes beyond the broadcast booth. He’s 10th in pitcher WAR, 19th in ERA, and fourth in wins. The only reason you won’t find Darling higher up on this list is because he did have two years which seemed to drag his numbers down. A pair of seasons with an ERA above 4.00 did its damage against one of the franchise’s most—wait for it—darling pitchers.

From 1984-1989, the Mets could count on Darling for one thing: double-digit wins. He set a career-best in 1988 with 17 victories. Often behind others in the rotation, Darling had his best stretch in the 1986 World Series.

Darling’s World Series numbers are fantastic. He made three starts versus the Boston Red Sox, came away with a 1-1 record, and a 1.53 ERA.

Despite his quality seasons with the Mets, Darling only ever received one invitation to the All-Star Game. This was in 1985 when he put together his first really memorable year. Darling wrapped up that campaign with a 16-6 record and 2.90 ERA.

The following year, at 15-6 with a 2.81 ERA, Darling finished fifth in the Cy Young vote.

I imagine some fans might give Darling bonus points for what he means to the franchise after his playing days. One of the beloved broadcasters we spend our summers with, let’s also remember everything he did for the team three decades ago.

11) Mets Best Starting Pitcher – Rick Reed

I love a good underdog story so please excuse me if you feel Rick Reed is too high on this list.

Reed joined the Mets as a journeyman starter who didn’t pitch in a big league game the year prior. Who knew he would end up with the 9th highest WAR, 14th most wins, and the second-best winning percentage in all of team history?

Reed was more than just a guy that performed better than expected. An All-Star in 1998 and again in 2001, he was an arm the Mets could count on every fifth day to give them a chance to win.

It’s this amazing ability to win games that should stand out most to fans when we all agree he deserves this spot on the list.

The 1990s included its ups and downs for the Mets. In the early part of the decade, the team was saying goodbye to some beloved stars while bringing in a few others. Many of them failed to live up to the hype. This led to a rebuild and an opportunity for guys like Reed to come in and show the franchise what they could do.

Reed achieved a lot with the Mets from 1997 until mid-2001. He wasn’t dominant. He didn’t strike out batters at an eye-popping rate. Reed just stepped on the mound, threw the baseball, and got outs consistently.

Of course, Reed did have the benefit of playing on some very good Mets teams. In 1999 and 2000, he posted ERAs above 4.00. Still, he managed to finish each year with an 11-5 record.

10) Mets Best Starting Pitcher – Johan Santana

One game helped define Johan Santana’s career with the Mets. His no-hitter, the first in franchise history, made him an immediate Mets legend.

Santana was much more than a one-game wonder. He isn’t one of those guys that stumbled into pitching a no-hitter one day. A star likely bound for Cooperstown if not for injuries, Santana is one of the greatest pitchers to ever wear a Mets uniform.

In his first year with the Mets, Santana led the league with a 2.53 ERA. He finished third in the Cy Young and 14th in the MVP race all while tossing a league-best 234.1 innings.

Santana continued to pitch amazingly well for two more seasons before injuries caught up to him. His final year with the Mets in 2012 wasn’t very good at all. Outside of his no-no, the season was one to forget.

Even with the blip, Santana’s career numbers with New York included a 46-34 record and 3.18 ERA. In such a short period of time, he managed to accumulate a 15.3 WAR which is tied for 11th among all Mets pitchers. His ERA is 14th and would have been even better had he stayed healthy.

With Santana, there are so many what-ifs to consider. In his four seasons where he actually pitched for the Mets, he only managed to make 30 or more starts in 2008 when he first arrived. Had things turned out differently, maybe the team would have been in better shape during the years after their 2008 collapse.

For me, Santana has the unfortunate claim as the best pitcher in Mets history to never appear in a postseason game. As the tenth-best in franchise history, it’s a shame we never got to see him pitch deep into October.

9) Mets Best Starting Pitcher – David Cone

Too many Mets fans forget about what David Cone did with the team in the late 1980s. Many of those fans are probably from a different generation. We remember him mostly for his time with the New York Yankees where he accomplished even more.

Well before his time in the Bronx, Cone was a darn good Mets pitcher. I don’t believe he gets enough credit for it either.

Cone’s first full year in the big leagues was in 1988. Anyone who knows a thing about Mets history recalls how special that year was. The club came a win away from making it to the World Series. Cone was a big reason for this. In his first All-Star campaign, he went 20-3 with a 2.22 ERA. He finished third in the Cy Young while helping the Mets capture the National League East.

Although the 1988 season was easily his best with the Mets, Cone did have some more solid seasons with the club. He stuck with them through the middle of 1992 before a trade to the Toronto Blue Jays ended his tenure with the team.

His overall numbers as a member of the Mets include an 81-51 record and 3.13 ERA. He ranks eighth in WAR for pitchers, tenth in ERA, and eight in wins.

Cone’s excellence often gets forgotten because of how much the Mets seemed to underachieve after the 1988 season. Although competitive in some years, the team failed to make its mark on MLB history and reach the postseason in any other season during his time calling Shea Stadium home.

8) Mets Best Starting Pitcher – Sid Fernandez

Maybe the most underrated player in Mets history, Sid Fernandez is easily one of the franchise’s greatest pitchers. He’s at number eight on this list, but I wouldn’t argue with anyone willing to rank him higher.

Fernandez ranks high on the all-time list of many important pitching statistics. His 27.7 WAR is sixth among pitchers. With a 3.14 ERA as a member of the Mets, he’s number 11.

In addition to those numbers, Fernandez also accumulated 98 wins as a member of the Mets. It ranks him fifth all-time in franchise history.

Fernandez certainly had time on his side. He spent ten years with the club where he amassed the bulk of his career statistics. Perhaps most impressive of all is how consistent he was from his Mets debut in 1984 through his final season in 1993. Fernandez’s highest ERA with the club came in 1987 when it was just 3.81. This happened to be one of his two All-Star seasons so I’m not sure there’s much to complain about.

The numbers are there for Fernandez, but why don’t we remember him so fondly?

Fernandez was right there alongside Dwight Gooden for all of those years in Flushing. Even though he was also young when he first stepped onto the mound at Shea Stadium, he was never viewed as a young star.

The 1986 season was the lone year we saw Fernandez earn even mild consideration for the Cy Young. His seventh-place finish was far enough away from the lead where I’m not so sure people remember him ever getting votes.

Unfortunately, the success Fernandez had in the regular season never translated to the playoffs. He lost both starts he made in the postseason for the Mets. Luckily, he did pitch well in the 1986 World Series as a reliever.

Fernandez never had that great moment or excellent season. Nevertheless, he’s one of the greatest Mets starting pitchers of all-time.

6) Mets Best Starting Pitcher – Jon Matlack

We get into a different territory in Mets history when the name Jon Matlack comes up. Matlack is someone I never got to watch pitch due to my unfortunate disability of being born in the late 1980s.

Luckily, even if I am a millennial, I know enough about Matlack to appreciate what he did for the Mets.

Matlack ranks seventh in WAR (26.6), fifth in ERA (3.03), and seventh in wins (82) among all Mets pitchers. Often overshadowed by two other names we haven’t gotten to yet on this list, Matlack enjoyed some excellent seasons with the Mets that even bested those two.

A three-time All-Star, Matlack won double-digit games for the club every year from 1972-1976. He kept runs off the board amazingly well despite not always getting the best run-support.

The 1972 Rookie of the Year has the misfortunate of owning a record of 82-81 as a member of the Mets. Even with an ERA at nearly 3.00, wins were hard for him to find at times.

Matlack marched on even if his team wasn’t winning much. He won a then career-high 16 games in 1975. A year later, he won 17.

Matlack’s 1973 postseason numbers were solid, too. He shutout the Cincinnati Reds in his one NLCS start and handled the Oakland Athletics well in his three World Series starts against them. Sadly, handling them well wasn’t enough as he was still 1-2 with a 2.16 ERA.

It’s amazing that even with his numbers Matlack was typically viewed as the number three pitcher during his time in New York. In his seven years, he got to enjoy pitching alongside some of the best in franchise history. Surely, he learned a thing or two from them along the way.

5) Mets Best Starting Pitcher – Al Leiter

I may not have seen Matlack or some of the other names on this list pitch, but I know plenty about Al Leiter. A modern-day great Mets pitcher, he’s number five on our list of the best.

I never viewed Leiter as an ace. He was more of a solid number one. In a way, it’s tough to judge his numbers against some of the other pitchers on this list. He was with the club during an era when baseballs were flying out of the ballpark on bunts. Nevertheless, Leiter has enough on his Mets resume for a high spot on this list.

Leiter’s 28 WAR ranks fifth among pitchers and his 95 wins are sixth. He doesn’t have the greatest ERA at 3.42, but we can explain that easily with his presence from 1998-2004. During this span, the single-season home run record was broken multiple times.

In the seven years he spent with the team, Leiter never had a bad year. He always finished with a .500 or better record and the highest his ERA ever was at the end of the season sat at 4.23. Although he earned just one All-Star appearance during his time with the Mets, he was an excellent arm to have.

On October 4, 1999, Leiter showed everyone how valuable he was to the franchise. The Mets were up against the Cincinnati Reds in a one-game playoff for the Wild Card. Leiter went out and pitched a two-hit shutout to put the Mets in the postseason for the first time in over a decade.

4) Mets Best Starting Pitcher – Jerry Koosman

Jerry Koosman is one of the most essential members of Mets history. He was on the mound for the final out of the 1969 World Series during his complete-game victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

It wasn’t just this one game or moment that helped shape the way we think about Koosman. As only the third player to ever have his name retired by the Mets, Koosman is an all-time great pitcher in franchise history.

During his dozen seasons with the Mets, Koosman was 140-137 with a 3.09 ERA. It’s actually quite shocking that he had a record so close to .500. We can blame some pretty bad Mets teams for this.

Koosman was rather consistent throughout his time in New York. In 1972, he had a 4.14 ERA. It was the highest it would ever finish in any full season with the club.

Like the other three names remaining on this list, Koosman’s career started off fantastically. He was 19-12 with a 2.08 ERA in his rookie campaign back in 1968. He narrowly lost the NL Rookie of the Year to Johnny Bench. Looking back at the numbers, Koosman probably deserved the win. He did, after all, finish 13th in the MVP vote that same season.

As far as his place among other Mets pitchers goes, Koosman is third in WAR at 39.4, sixth in ERA at 3.09, and third in wins with those 140 mentioned earlier. Certainly a guy who had a chance to accumulate numbers over time, Koosman was much more than a guy that stayed with the team for a very long time. Koosman was an all-time great.

In the postseason, Koosman came up strong. After one bad start against the Atlanta Braves in the 1969 NLCS, he settled in. He won both of his World Series starts versus the Orioles and continued to build up a good reputation in 1973 when the club returned to the postseason.

Koosman was victorious in one start against the Cincinnati Reds. In two starts, he went 1-0 versus the Oakland Athletics in the World Series while posting a 3.12 ERA.

Although he’s the fourth-best starting pitcher in team history, Koosman is number one among the lefties.

3) Mets Best Staring Pitcher – Dwight Gooden

For the longest time, Dwight Gooden was the number two pitcher in Mets history. There was little to debate. His career with the franchise set him apart from so many before and after. His spot at number three is still worthy of high praise. Gooden is, after all, one of the greats to wear orange and blue.

Not many players began their career as flashy as Gooden did. He was the 1984 Rookie of the Year behind some of the most incredible numbers by an MLB freshman.

Gooden made 31 starts for the Mets, went 17-9, and finished with a 2.60 ERA. As if this wasn’t a grand enough entrance, he followed it up with an absolutely legendary sophomore year in 1986. This time around, Gooden went 24-4 with a 1.53 ERA. He captured the NL Cy Young and put himself in the record books with one of the best seasons of all-time for a pitcher.

Through the rest of the 1980s and even into the early 1990s, Gooden remained the team’s ace. We did see his numbers slightly fade in some aspects in the new decade, but even armed with a 3.83 ERA in 1990, Gooden managed to win 19 games.

His career numbers with the Mets are impressive. His 157-85 record gives him a .649 winning percentage—the best in club history. The win total itself is second and his 3.10 ERA is tied for seventh among all pitchers.

Although I have dropped him down to number three on this list, he continues to have the second-greatest WAR for pitchers in franchise history at 41.6.

2) Mets Best Starting Pitcher – Jacob deGrom

I don’t know where to begin with Jacob deGrom because we are far from finding the ending. A Mets legend still in action, deGrom has done enough to secure the number two spot on the list of the greatest pitchers in club history. He might not yet have all of the statistics. However, with a pair of Cy Young awards and numbers few pitchers in his era, or many other, can match, it’s an easy choice I will defend.

Through his first seven seasons, deGrom has gone 7-51 with a 2.61 ERA. Along with his two Cy Young awards, he also has a Rookie of the Year trophy.

deGrom has been a master of consistency. Even without much run-support, he has managed to give the Mets a shot to win just about every game he pitches.

At the start of the 2021 season, deGrom is fourth in WAR for pitchers (35.9), second in ERA (2.61), and tenth in wins (70). That last number, as we’ve all struggled to understand, doesn’t matter much. This is a new era of baseball where wins don’t necessarily count as they once did. I’m actually somewhat surprised to see he has cracked the top ten despite all of the roadblocks and blown saves he has suffered through.

Unfortunately, deGrom has nowhere to go but down on this list. A poor finish to his time with the Mets or possibly a future star in the rotation may take his number two spot.

If there’s one thing no Mets fan can debate, it’s who the greatest starting pitcher in Mets history is.

1) Mets Best Starting Pitcher – Tom Seaver

The GOAT. The franchise. Mr. Tom Terrific. Nobody did it better for the Mets than Tom Seaver. Nobody ever will again.

First in WAR (76), ERA (2.57), and wins (198), it’s impossible to make an argument in favor of anyone else. I mean, why even bother? You’re wasting your breath. Other than to flap your lips, debating in favor of anyone else is a futile effort.

During his time with the Mets, Seaver won three Cy Youngs and should have had at least one more. How does a man with 20 wins and a league-best 1.76 ERA not win it in 1971?

His Mets accomplishments include league-leading win totals in 1969 and 1975, ERA titles in 1970, 1971, and 1973, and five years of leading the league in strikeouts.

Did I fail to mention Seaver has struck out more batters than any other Mets pitcher? I probably did but you could have guessed that already.

Here’s a tip: if you’re ever not sure who leads the Mets in any positive category, the answer is probably Tom Seaver.

Seaver literally helped transform the Mets from a joke in Major League Baseball to a true contender and eventual World Series winners. There’s little doubt he was the driving force behind the 1969 championship and the success they continued to have throughout the early 1970s.

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The best Mets pitcher and player in franchise history, his ranking goes beyond just this one organization. He is an all-time great New York athlete. With melancholy, it’s disappointing to know we will never see another pitcher perform like him ever again.