Series preview – Mets come to town

The Mets have not had a winning season since 2008, but this could be the last year you can say that. They have several pitching prospects bubbling in AAA, and the major league team is stocked as well with youth and experience. When you look at who will be in the 2015 rotation you have all these pitchers to choose from: (ages are for 2015)

• 42-year-old Bartolo Colon – probably gets moved this winter, shocking he has not been moved this summer.  Bartolo even at his advanced age simply gets the job done. As a fifth starter he is more than serviceable.
• 29-year-old Dillon Gee – another decent back-end rotation piece.
• 28-year-old Jonathan Niese – a tad above the average crowd, Niese would fit right in at back-end of rotation
• 27-year-old Jacob deGrom – I have no idea what to make of deGrom. Pitching as a 26 year old rookie he has simply been excellent in sixteen starts and neither do Met fans
  
• 25-year-old 2013 phenom Matt Harvey might be ready to give Jose Fernandez a run for best young right-handed pitcher in the game.  Certainly the potential to be the Met ace
• 25-year-old Zack Wheeler – 2.12 in his last 10 starts, with OPS against of only .641. 2015 is when the Giants really feel the sting of trading Zack for Beltran. Wheeler has the stuff to be the Matt Cain to Matt Harvey.
• 24-year-old Rafael Montero – dabbled briefly so far in the bigs with mixed results. Is expected to be an option for the rotation in 2015.  Montero is ranked as the 79th best prospect.
• 22-year-old Noah Syndergaard – considered the cream of the Met crop, he has struggled in 2014 with injuries and inconsistency. Probably not ready for prime time but when he is, he does have the stuff be a front of the line pitcher. Currently rotowire has him ranked as the 12th best prospect.

Finally 25-year-old Jennry Mejia who is currently serving as the Met closer. Parnell will be back next year, and maybe Mejia will head back into the rotation. He has been fighting a hernia this summer so the smaller load of working as a closer has allowed him to continue pitching. He has the repertoire of a starter, so I would not be shocked if he finds himself back into someone’s rotation.

It will be interesting a year from now to see how the Met rotation has shaken out.

Lets take a look at the rest of the team.

1st base – Lucas Duda was finally given the job full-time when the Mets pulled the plug on the Ike Davis era. Duda has rewarded the Mets with an outstanding season by simply doing what he does. Provide power and patience. Duda now has 23 dingers along with 54 walks.

2nd base – Daniel Murphy has had an above average season at 2nd base with a 119 OPS+,  and currently leads the NL in hits with 154, but hey he’s no Justin Turner:)

SS – Mets are going with 22-year-old Wilmer Flores to see what he’s got. So far Wilmer is not showing much but I think with more playing time the hits will start to come. The real question for Wilmer is can he play SS? I don’t think the question is can he hit enough to play SS but maybe that is a valid question.

3rd – David Wright is still the man but now he’s the old man. The 31-year-old Wright has seen his power go off a Votto cliff this year with only eight boom booms so far.  To compete in 2015, David Wright will need to make a big comeback from his current depths.

C – Travis d’Arnaud – was the part of the prize in the RA Dickey deal.  On May 13th his .588 OPS was sent back to AAA. Within weeks he got his swing straightened out and has put up a .732 OPS since returning. In today’s offensive nadir, that will play just nicely.

RF – Curtis Granderson has been terrible, and that terrible turns to horrible when talking about August. How about an August OPS of .432. That is right, .432.

CF – Four different Mets have played CF in August but luckily for defensive fans, Lagares gets the most burn. None of them can hit, so might as well go with the guy who can pick it.

LF – Yuck and his cronies play here.

OK

after doing the review the Mets needs some serious OF redo if they expect to compete next year. Serious redo.