2022 reasons to look forward to the 2022 season

MLB and the MLBPA agreed to a new CBA, and now, we’re all of a sudden only about a month away from regular season baseball. Free agency is already in full swing, though the New York Mets took care of most of that in spring training bringing in Max Scherzer, Starling Marte, Eduardo Escobar and Mark Canha. The Mets did attack the trade market though, picking up Chris Bassitt from the Oakland A’s yard sale, as he now becomes one of the best No. 3 starters in baseball. 

Now, just as we recapped all 2021 reasons why the 2021 season didn’t work, it’s time to look ahead to the future!

Here are 2022 reasons to be excited about the Mets 2022 season

130 - The number of millions of dollars in Max Scherzer’s new contract
Did you know Max Scherzer is now a New York Met? Yes, that Max Scherzer. Eight-time All-Star Max Scherzer. Three-time Cy Young winner Max Scherzer. Career 3.13 ERA, 134 ERA+ and 1.084 WHIP over 14 seasons Max Scherzer. Two-different colored eyes Max Scherzer. Absolute terrifying monster on the mound Max Scherzer.

Future first-ballot Hall-of-Famer Max Scherzer. That guy. He’s now on the New York Mets. Yeah, I can’t believe it either.

161 - Scherzer’s ERA+ over the last 5 years
Speaking of Scherzer, while his career ERA+ of 134 is already very good, he’s been on a different level over this last part of his career. From 2017-21, he has an ERA+ of 161, which trails just one other pitcher — Jacob deGrom.

That’s right, from 2017-21 (of players with minimum 300 innings pitched), the top-two pitchers in all of baseball were deGrom and Scherzer. Both pitchers are now in the same rotation. The Mets have what is undeniably the best one-two punch in the league.

0 - The number of pitchers in baseball better than Jacob deGrom
Sure, the number zero doesn’t exactly add to the total — but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth mentioning. Jacob deGrom is the best pitcher in the world. That is just a fact. Like Scherzer, he’s a future first-ballot Hall-of-Famer. He is already a legend.

The Mets have a special player right now. There are good players. There are great players. And then there are players like deGrom. If he stays healthy, there’s really no ceiling for him in 2022.

5 - Cy Young Awards on the staff
Speaking of deGrom and Scherzer, did you know they have FIVE Cy Young Awards between them? Scherzer has three (2013, 2016-17) and deGrom has two (2018-19). For a four-year stretch in the NL, the Cy Young winner was one of the two. 

There are just nine other teams that currently have even one Cy Young award on the roster, and only the Tampa Bay Rays and Los Angeles Dodgers have multiple.