NY Mets: 2 players who justified team’s faith and 1 who hasn’t
The New York Mets are winning baseball games even with a roster about half-past dead. Injuries have limited them greatly yet they have managed to slide into first place and create some separation from the rest of the National League East.
While the team has a few sure things, Jacob deGrom coming to mind most, they also do have a couple of guys who came into this season with doubters. Some have earned our faith while others have not. I’d like to discuss two of the former and one of the latter.
Marcus Stroman has been as good for the Mets as Marcus Stroman advertised he would be
Marcus Stroman talked a big game this offseason. For some, it didn’t come off the best. Stroman chose to sit out in 2020, a decision he made after he logged enough service time to earn a spot among the free agents last winter. His next move was to agree to the qualifying offer and then take to social media to tell the world how fantastic he was at baseball.
Much to the delight of Mets fans, Stroman has been as great as he advertised he would be.
Through 12 starts, Stroman is 5-4 with a 2.41 ERA. Well on his way to a potential career year, anyone who had doubts in Stroman from the start is digging deep into his statistics to find something to dislike about him.
Stroman has a strong personality and I understand why it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. However you feel about his social media presence or what he has to say postgame, it’s hard to not have faith in him every fifth day when he takes the mound.
Was there ever any doubt in Edwin Diaz?
Edwin Diaz is another member of the Mets who has seen his share of criticism. Fortunately, he seemed to turn it all around last year. Haters were quick to point to a “small sample size” from the shortened 2020 season. Diaz has managed to excel again this year, for the first time in front of fans in Flushing since his disastrous 2019 season.
Heading into this season, there was a thought about whether or not Diaz would remain the closer. There wasn’t a big contingency of Mets fans who were ready to toss him into a lesser role. Nevertheless, some were out there and will surely discuss their disgust for him until their dying breath.
Diaz is 10 for 11 in save opportunities through his first 23 appearances. He has a 3.09 ERA and a decreasing walk rate which makes up for fewer strikeouts per nine this season.
Diaz’s numbers may not jump out at first glance. However, his 1.64 FIP nearly matches what he did in his All-Star campaign with the Seattle Mariners back in 2018 when he ended the year with a 1.61 FIP. This is largely due to a lack of free passes and a goose egg on the stat sheet for the number of home runs he has allowed.
There are some who will never trust Diaz. Those stubborn Mets fans need to take a cue from George Michael: they gotta have faith.
David Peterson might not be the pitcher we thought he was
There are a lot of Mets players to gush over this year. One not so worthy of praise is starting pitcher David Peterson. If not for a lack of options, he likely would have been demoted to bullpen duties or possibly sent to Triple-A by now.
Peterson hasn’t been completely disastrous. After 10 starts, he is still just 1-4 with a 5.89 ERA. In a season where pitchers are dominating and hitters are universally struggling, it’s amazing to see Peterson’s ERA jump up as much as it did from last year. Already, he has given up home runs at a rate of twice as many as he did in 2020.
Something to remember about Peterson is that he was never viewed as a top-of-the-rotation arm. Instead, at his best, Peterson would have probably given the Mets third starter quality—even that may be a slight reach.
In the Mets’ first year without Steven Matz, Peterson has taken over the role of the inconsistent southpaw in the rotation. He does have some company though, with Joey Lucchesi also delivering some shaky outings.
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Peterson pitched so well for the Mets last year that I think it’s easy for many of us to put our faith in him. With time to turn it around, not all faith has been lost in him quite yet.