John Franco might be one of the most underrated playoff performers in NY Mets history

When we think of John Franco, we think of hold-your-breath saves. Nobody saved more for the New York Mets. And yet, for all of those years he spent compiling saves, he never had much of a chance to secure games in the postseason. The Mets were playoff vacant for much of his tenure. Once they did make it back to the playoffs, Armando Benitez replaced him as the final boss in the bullpen.

When it comes to memorable Mets playoff performances, Franco’s name doesn’t get much of a mention and yet his numbers hold up. Around for only two trips in 1999 and again in 2000, Franco was about as good as it gets in those limited chances.

John Franco was an underrated big game pitcher for the Mets in the playoffs

It began with 3.2 shutout innings and only 1 hit allowed versus the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 1999 NLDS. He finished two games, but didn’t pick up any saves. The Atlanta Braves managed to tag him for his first ever run allowed in the playoffs during the Mets’ NLCS loss. Still, coming out of it with only a 3.38 ERA, feels successful.

Franco was used regularly by Bobby Valentine in the 2000 playoffs. He had 2 games in the NLDS, 3 in the NLCS, and 4 in the World Series. He was named the winner in the one World Series game the Mets took from the Yankees. Thanks to the Mets breaking a 2-2 tie in the 8th inning after he pitched a scoreless top half of the inning, he was lined up for his second playoff win. His other came in Game 4 of the 1999 NLDS over the Diamondbacks when he was the last pitcher to throw before Todd Pratt’s walk-off.

Franco would go 2-0 with a 1.88 ERA. He had a 0.97 WHIP plus a 2.37 FIP to tell us he was only a little bit lucky. His one and only postseason save came in the 2000 NLDS after a Benitez blown save had the Mets turning to him for help in the 10th. 

Beloved by fans, Franco still had a reputation for shrinking down at times. That was reserved for the regular season. Compared to Billy Wagner who gave up 6 earned runs in 5.2 postseason innings for the Mets and Benitez who had a 1.66 WHIP in each of the 2000 playoff series, the numbers bear out favorably for Franco.

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