Reese Kaplan -- Early Mets Award Winners

With the Mets expanding their lead on the 2^nd place Washington Nationals, it got me to thinking about the traditional baseball awards and how they would apply to the current roster of Mets players.  Let's look at the contenders for each of the three major awards:

Cy Young

• Jacob de Grom – The reigning Rookie of the Year is coming out from behind Matt Harvey’s shadow to show dominance few in the majors can match.  He earned his All-Star selection this year with a 12-6 record, a 2.29 ERA (which ballooned recently from under 2.00 his last start when he was ill), striking out over a batter per inning pitched, featuring a better than 5:1 K to BB ratio and a miniscule WHIP of 0.94. 

• Matt Harvey – Though at times he struggled to achieve the same dominance he did prior to his surgery, if Jacob de Grom was not on this team, all anyone would be trumpeting was the job he’s done as a starter this year.  He’s got an 11-7 record (which would be better had the batters supported him a bit more in his starts), just under 1 K per IP, a 2.57 ERA and a WHIP of 1.01.  Wow.  If not for his teammate, he would be a shoo-in. 

MVP

• Yoenis Cespedes – His production upon arrival has been nothing short of spectacular.  In a Mets uniform he’s batting .311 with 7 HRs and 21 RBIs in just 23 games.  He’s even contributed with 4 SBs and some throwing gems from the outfield.  The question is can you grant an award on less than a month of production?

• Jeurys Familia – Where would this team be without his steadying presence in the 9^th inning?  He has provided 61 IP of stellar relief, with over a strikeout per inning pitched, a better than 4:1 K to BB ratio, a 1.75 ERA and thus far 34 saves.  Opposing batters are hitting under .200 against him.

• Curtis Granderson – The first big free agent acquisition did not look like a good one for Sandy Alderson, but after a year of adjustment he’s rebounded to provide a .254 AVG, 22 HRs, 55 RBIs and a nice .348 OBP while batting leadoff.  He still struggles mightily against LHP, but the presence of Michael Cuddyer and Juan Lagares on the roster give Terry Collins some flexibility when to sit Granderson. 

• Lucas Duda – He’s been awfully streaky when healthy, and despite having about 60 fewer ABs than Granderson, his numbers are very similar -- .247/21/58.  His issue this year has been the Ks – 124 and counting. 

Rookie of the Year

• Michael Conforto – Like Cespedes, he has not had enough time here to warrant serious consideration.  However, his audition this year helped inject some pop into a heretofore pathetic offense.  He’s acquitted himself well and seems to be on an upward trend after some early struggles.  He sports a .271 AVG with 3 HRs and 12 RBIs over a 24 game major league career – not quite Cespedes numbers, but certainly encouraging for a rookie who jumped from AA ball to the majors.  

• Noah Syndergaard – The man they call Thor has shown flashes of the ability that had scouts drooling all the since A ball.  His numbers are indeed impressive – 8-6 record, 3.19 ERA, a tidy 1.14 WHIP and 126 strikeouts in 116 IP. 

• Sean Gilmartin – Don’t laugh, but this Rule V choice has quietly had a very successful rookie campaign as one of the long men out of the pen.  He’s currently appeared in 39 games after transitioning from his career in the minors as a starter.  He’s got a 3-1 record, a 2.34 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP.  Though not a power pitcher, he’s still striking out nearly a batter per inning and featuring a nearly 3:1 K to BB ratio. 

• Steve Matz – He certainly showed what kind of talent he has before the lat muscle took him out of contention. 

Who’s on your slate?  Here’s mine:

• Cy Young – Jacob de Grom in a landslide
• MVP – Jeurys Familia over Granderson and Cespedes
• Rookie of the Year –Noah Syndergaard by a hair over Sean Gilmartin

The first two shouldn’t generate much debate but mentioning Gilmartin in the same breath as Syndergaard surely will.  My reasoning is that he’s been here since day one, he’s been in nearly twice as many games as has Syndergaard, he’s producing greater consistency when he takes the mound.  Now if you ask me who I’d want if I was drafting a team for the future, then the nod goes to Thor but on the basis of this year alone Gilmartin deserves nearly equal consideration. 

Who are your picks?