Is Winningest a word? Hope so.
This won't be the winningest season in Mets' history - I would, however, love it if this team can win more games than the 1962 Mets, wouldn't you?
41-19 would be awfully hard to achieve, but why not go for it?
I mean, after all, do you want to be part of a Mets team that had the fewest season wins in Mets' history? Of course, it will also set the record for least losses.
But I digress....
I decided to look at surprising Mets winning pitcher records.
41-19 would be awfully hard to achieve, but why not go for it?
I mean, after all, do you want to be part of a Mets team that had the fewest season wins in Mets' history? Of course, it will also set the record for least losses.
But I digress....
I decided to look at surprising Mets winning pitcher records.
And some other records, too.
We know Tom Seaver has the most wins as a Met (198) - sure. Terrific.
But...
How about these other stats?
But...
How about these other stats?
Tied for 10th most at 66 Mets wins?
Jake deGrom and...
Steve Trachsel??? Jake needs to break that tie, pronto. Of course, Jake has 77 more wins to go just to tie Trachsel's career total of 143, so he has his work cut out for him there.
And heck, while I usually have negative thoughts when I play the Word Association Game, and someone says Trachsel, he was 16-10 as a Met in 2003, a season win total not reached by any of the Mets' homegrown starters yet (season high wins for Jake (15), Thor (14), and Matz (11)).
Steve Trachsel??? Jake needs to break that tie, pronto. Of course, Jake has 77 more wins to go just to tie Trachsel's career total of 143, so he has his work cut out for him there.
And heck, while I usually have negative thoughts when I play the Word Association Game, and someone says Trachsel, he was 16-10 as a Met in 2003, a season win total not reached by any of the Mets' homegrown starters yet (season high wins for Jake (15), Thor (14), and Matz (11)).
Best win percentages?
Dwight Gooden (.649) and ex-scab Rick Reed (.621, at 59-36) are your top two. Scabs can be a good thing.
Rehabbing Noah Syndergaard? 5th at .610. Tom Seaver (.615) and David Cone (.614) are 3rd and 4th in the top 5.
Only 29 pitchers in Mets history with a reasonable innings level (as determined by Baseball Reference) have had career Mets W-L records of .500 or better (tied for 29th, Ollie Perez (29-29) and Jesse Orosco (47-47).
What does that tell me? Hard to expect ANY pitcher to win more than 60% of his decisions in any given season.
And sub.500 Mets names include Matt Harvey (.479) and Ste Matz (.463). Only 46 Mets guys in history at .400 or better.
Win % # 50? Al Jackson at .350. But put him in the mid 1980s pitching with the Mets instead and he'd add 200 points to that, easy.
BTW, Roger Craig was somewhere below # 50 at 15-46 as a Met - but he was 59-52 when he pitched for actual major league teams, since those Mets teams he toiled for were AAA caliber - maybe. Maybe AA. Jay Hook's 12-34 for the same putrid Mets teams gave you a clue how bad they were. Craig and Hook combined for 43 Mets complete games, so they not only got to lose, they couldn't even get taken out of the game most times - Case was either snoozing in the dugout, or it was "stay in there and take a whoopin', fellas!"
BTW, Roger Craig was somewhere below # 50 at 15-46 as a Met - but he was 59-52 when he pitched for actual major league teams, since those Mets teams he toiled for were AAA caliber - maybe. Maybe AA. Jay Hook's 12-34 for the same putrid Mets teams gave you a clue how bad they were. Craig and Hook combined for 43 Mets complete games, so they not only got to lose, they couldn't even get taken out of the game most times - Case was either snoozing in the dugout, or it was "stay in there and take a whoopin', fellas!"
Relievers (total Mets #'s, starting and relieving) with a W/L% under .500 include John Franco (.462), Tug McGraw (.461), Skip Lockwood (.400, at 24-36) and Neil Allen (.385, at 25-40). Hard to win without hitting support, ain't it? And those guys, with the possible exception of Franco, saw a lot of non-support.
Oh, and speaking of hard to win, Anthony Young was not in the top 50 win % list for obvious reasons (5-35 as a Met), but he had a very decent Mets 3.82 ERA, and was a decent 10-13 with 2 other teams.
That ERA, by the way, had he had enough innings to qualify for the list, would have slid him very nicely in at 28th best all time Mets ERA. Crazy to think about Young having the 28th best career ERA of Mets pitchers all time, huh?
That ERA, by the way, had he had enough innings to qualify for the list, would have slid him very nicely in at 28th best all time Mets ERA. Crazy to think about Young having the 28th best career ERA of Mets pitchers all time, huh?
10th in Ks per 9 IP? Who might that be?
Surprisingly, it was Dr. K, Dwight Gooden, at 7.777 Ks per 9 IP. You would've thought that would be good for...7th??
Surprisingly, it was Dr. K, Dwight Gooden, at 7.777 Ks per 9 IP. You would've thought that would be good for...7th??
Steve Matz? 8th at 8.459/9. Being as high as 8th surprised me. Hey Steve, you have more Ks per 9 innings than Dwight Gooden, which should bring a smile to your face.
Losses? Jerry Koosman was tops with 137, because he pitched so darned long for inept hitting Mets teams, but Al Jackson and "Fat" Jack Fisher lost like mad in a much shorter period of time for even more inept early 1960s teams, to come in at 5th (43-80) and 7th (38-73) in losses.
Fielding Independent Pitching (i.e., FIP)?
Bunched tightly together in the top 5 are Seaver (2.67), Gooden (2.77) deGrom (2.78), Matlack (2.88), and Syndergaard (2.92). Impressive cluster.
Bunched tightly together in the top 5 are Seaver (2.67), Gooden (2.77) deGrom (2.78), Matlack (2.88), and Syndergaard (2.92). Impressive cluster.
Wild pitches? Tom Seaver had his terrifically wild side, at 81 wild pitches, while #'s 9 and # 10 on the list were surprising to me:
Jim McAndrew (34 in 729 Mets innings) and Pete Falcone (31 in 607 IP) - pretty wild, man.
Jim McAndrew (34 in 729 Mets innings) and Pete Falcone (31 in 607 IP) - pretty wild, man.
That's it for today, folks. I'm all statted out.
2 comments:
So what you're saying is that for a franchised with storied pitching, some of those stories are of the in-the-dark-around-the-campfire scary variety?
Absolutely, Reese, especially for Anthony Young. Numbers don't tell the whole story, but to have an ERA equal to the 29th best Mets qualifying pitcher and be just 5-35? Ugly offensive support.
Paul Sewald's 5.16 ERA is much worse than Young's, but Paul's 1-14 career record is largely a testament to the Mets never (well, once) hitting for him when the game was on the line.
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