3 Mets players not named Jose Iglesias who have been important firecrackers

There is only one Candelita but there are a couple of firecrackers on this team.

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New York Mets v Colorado Rockies / Dustin Bradford/GettyImages
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The New York Mets have a firecracker, or Candelita if you will, on their roster. Who thought the most popular player on the Mets roster this year would be Jose Iglesias? From the moment he joined, the vibe around the Mets altered.

Iglesias isn’t the only Candelita to wear orange and blue this year. From the early days of Reed Garrett out of the bullpen to the midseason trade for Luis Torrens, this year’s Mets club has been filled with some amazing performances. Bigger names brought in during the offseason have done well, too. The latest version of Sean Manaea, the clutch at-bats from Harrison Bader, and versatility of Tyrone Taylor have all helped make this club more complete.

The Mets are full of firecrackers. These three have done it for the long haul.

1) Jose Butto

There aren’t enough nice things to say about Jose Butto. Now caught in a web of being a talented reliever who probably could give the Mets big innings as a starter, what Butto has done is given the ball club a whole lot of options now and with him personally in the future. He is a contender to be in next year’s rotation with at least a guarantee to be in the bullpen.

Butto is 5-3 on the season with a 2.30 ERA. Out of the bullpen, he has gone an unstoppable 4-0 with a 0.87 ERA through 20.2 innings. It’s astonishing to realize he has made only 10 relief appearances all season. Life before him doesn’t seem real.

Who would’ve thought Butto could be such a valuable asset to the Mets this season? He has taken his “demotion” to a relief role in stride. It was a numbers game he failed to win. 

It’s firecrackers like Butto that can help take a team far into the postseason. The right energy and talent, we’re thankful to have him.

2) Mark Vientos

Remember when the Mets sent Mark Vientos down to the minor leagues to begin the season? He learned a thing or two down there. Vientos has been without a doubt one of the most consistent hitters for the team.

He hit .429 in April, .310 in May, .265 in June, and .283 in July. It was the latter two months when he received the bulk of his playing time. He drove in 17 runs in both months with 7 and 6 home runs respectively. As far as consistency goes, he was right there with a .554 slugging percentage in both June and July.

Rough patches will come. He’s in the closest thing to one right now as are several of his Mets teammates. Shutout in back-to-back games against the Seattle Mariners, his August has started off with a prolonged slump.

On the positive side, Vientos is still making contact. He hasn’t struck out since the Sunday finale versus the Los Angeles Angels. A big part of his improvement this year has involved dropping his strikeout rate from 30.5% down to 25.1%.

He goes into the last game of this endless road trip hitting .270/.324/.536 with 17 home runs and 44 RBI. Let’s explode one last time before returning to Citi Field.

3) Danny Young

You could make a case for a couple of other firecrackers on the Mets. One flying way under the radar finally beginning to gain some attention is lefty Danny Young. Capable of going long stretches without giving up a run and tossing more than an inning at a time, this smart offseason pickup from the Atlanta Braves is working out incredibly well.

Young is on a hot streak and is now the owner of a 2.70 ERA in 23.1 innings. Fanning 32 batters along the way as well, he has posted a tremendous 12.3 strikeouts per 9 this season.

Young hasn’t given up a run (earned or otherwise) in 11 consecutive appearances. He got knocked around in three straight appearances at the end of June and has been scorching ever since.

In the post-Jake Diekman era, Young has become the top lefty in the bullpen. He doesn’t throw particularly hard and has relied on sweepers and sinkers to get him this far. Calling him a junkballer isn’t fair, but he’s walking the line of being one. In what might be the changing of the guard for relievers to throw hard for big outs, Young has found himself excelling by fooling hitters rather than burning through them.

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