The best Mets player to wear number 29

The argument over the best Met to wear number 29 is an interesting one. 42 players have worn number 29, second most of any number in New York Mets history. Of those 42 players, there have been no superstars. Most of them are just relievers and bench players.

Ike Davis I thought might end up as the best Met to wear this number after hitting 32 home runs in 2012 and looking very promising, but he never came close to replicating that and was in Pittsburgh by the end of the 2014 season. Guys like Eric Campbell and Brad Brach have worn it recently as well. Trevor Williams currently is the Met to wear number 29.

To me, this race was between three people. Dave Magadan wore it for awhile, but was at his best wearing number 10. Steve Trachsel wore it for his entire six year Mets tenure but was nothing special on the mound.

Frank Viola is the best Mets player to wear number 29

Arguments can definitely be made for Trachsel and especially Magadan, but in my opinion, despite only pitching for two seasons with the Mets, Frank Viola is the best one to wear number 29. The case for Trachsel and Magadan are longevity based while Viola was by far the most productive.

After acquiring Viola in the middle of the 1989 season, the southpaw posted a 3.38 ERA in 12 starts, pitching 85.1 innings in those starts. Very good, but nowhere near as good as what would happen in his first full season as a Met.

In the 1990 season, Viola went 20-12 with a 2.67 ERA. He had 249.2 innings pitched in 35 starts, both of which led the National League. Viola finished fourth in ERA and was second with a 6.4 bWAR. He was an all-star and finished third in the National League Cy Young balloting.

Viola's 1991 season was not quite as good as he had a 3.91 ERA in 35 starts but still had 231.1 innings pitched. Viola's 1990 season was one of the more underrated individual seasons a Mets pitcher has had and despite his short tenure, that season did enough in my eyes to crown him as the best to wear the number.