Reese Kaplan -- The Best Mets Starting Pitchers

Although you must score runs to win games, preventing the opposition from doing the same is just as important to your overall record.  For a club with 60 years of playing history, they have been far more adept at finding good pitchers than they have good hitters.  Let's take a brief look at some of the better ones during that period of time.

You can't start off any list examining the Mets when it comes to starting pitching without beginning with the man whose statue now graces Citi Field, Tom Seaver.  Obtained after an illegal draft was nullified by MLB, Seaver instantly gave the laughingstock Mets instant credibility.  He started his career in New York in 1967 as a 22 year old rookie, winning the Rookie of the Year Award, making the All Star team and appearing in the MVP voting.  It was based upon a 16-13 record for a very bad team while pitching to a 2.76 ERA and striking out 170 hitters.  

He went on from there to set all kinds of standards for pitching and professionalism that resulted in three Cy Young Awards, a dozen All Star games and ten times in the MVP voting.  Even if sportswriter Dick Young, GM M. Donald Grant and team owner Lorinda de Roulet were taking a stand, by banishing the man from Shea Stadium, they likely didn't perceive the impact his loss would have in the media, with the fan base and with the club's potential for contention.  

It is great that in his Hall of Fame plaque he chose to wear the NY Mets cap. 

Seaver's southpaw teammate, Jerry Koosman, joined the Mets in 1967 as well.  At age 24 he made a token 9-game appearance as both a starter and reliever, but did he ever wow them in his first full season in 1968.  He went 19-12 with a 2.08 ERA and finished second in the Rookie of the Year voting behind Johnny Bench who hit 15 HRs, drove in 82, won a Gold Glove and made the All Star team.  

Koosman went on to serve 11 years pitching for the Mets during some lean times, finishing above .500 with an ERA of just 3.09.  During that time he was a two-time All Star and three-time MVP candidate.  

Many thought that the arrival of Dwight "Doc" Gooden might threaten many of Tom Seaver's pitching accomplishments.  Gooden was an amazing guy to watch as a youngster, arriving to the club in 1984 as a skinny 19 year old rookie throwing flames.  He won the Rookie of the Year award that season after going 17-9 with a 2.69 ERA while fanning 276 hitters.  

He landed on his first of 4 All Star appearances, finishing 2nd in the Cy Young Award balloting and among the cited contenders for MVP.  He followed that up with a magical 1985 season where he finished 20 games over .500 with a 24-4 record, a 1.76 ERA and struck out 268.  For that performance he nabbed the Cy Young Award and finished 4th in the MVP voting.  

During the World Series year of 1986 he was "down" a bit to 17-6 with a 2.84 ERA, but no one looked forward to facing him.  Of course, it was during 1986 that his cocaine problem came to light and he later added domestic violence and driving infractions to his checkered personal history.  He finished his career in 2000 with a second stint in the Bronx, compiling a 194-112 record with nearly 2300 strikeouts and a 3.51 ERA.  Had he paid more attention to his body and brain he might have been a Hall of Fame inductee.

Often lost in the shuffle of conversations about great Mets pitchers was lefty Jon Matlack.  In his first full season in 1972 at the age of 22 Matlack won Rookie of the Year based upon his season going 15-10 with a 2.32 ERA.  He had the bad luck to play during the low lights of Mets history, but finished his career a mere 1 game under .500 with an ERA of just 3.18.  

He was a three-time All Star and once finished 6th in the Cy Young Award voting in 1976.  He spent his first seven years with the Mets and his final six as a member of the Texas Rangers.  

Another pitcher some folks don't consider praise worthy was another lefty, Al Leiter.  For seven years he played for the Mets, finishing that period with a 95-67 record and a respectable 3.46 ERA.  

He made the All Star team once as a Met and once was in the Cy Young Award running.  Considering he was obtained for a lesser pitcher in A.J. Burnett and a short-lived outfielder named Jesus Sanchez, that was a great deal for the Mets.  

One-time great pitcher Pedro Martinez suffered quite a bit from arm trouble throughout his career, but the Mets took a chance on him at age 33 for big money.  He rewarded them immediately that year with a good performance of 15-8 with a 2.82 ERA which merited yet another appearance on the All Star team.  

Unfortunately his next three years for the Mets were not good due to health problems and his four-year Mets record was not what they had hoped.  

With the five-man no-hitter this past week Johan Santana's name came up many times as he holds the only single-man no-no in Mets history.  His acquisition from the Minnesota Twins was probably fair value for both sides.  

Carlos Gomez would later make a pair of All Star appearances for the Brewers and Philip Humber had a mediocre career in the big leagues.  For Santana's part, in addition to blanking the Cardinals on that illustrious day, he did very well when his health allowed.  His four on-the-field-years for the Mets resulted in a 46-34 record with an enviable 3.18 ERA.  

Yes, he was at the tail end of his career and his arm wouldn't cooperate, but the Mets will never regret having made that trade.

Current broadcaster Ron Darling certainly gave his best pitching years to the Mets.  Debuting in 1983 for a cup of coffee, he went 12-9 in his 1984 full rookie season finishing 5th in the voting for Rookie of the Year.  In 1985 he went 16-6 with a 2.90 ERA and made the NL All Star team.  During the World Series year of 1986 he went 15-6 with an even lower 2.81 ERA and finished 5th in the Cy Young Award voting.  For his Mets career he went an impressive 94-64 with a 3.48 ERA.  

Getting both he and Walt Terrell for a solid but unspectacular Lee Mazzilli was a solid deal.  Maz hit just .231 for the remaining 8 years of his career.  

Another starter plagued by arm issues was recently departed Met Noah Syndergaard.  During his on-again/off-again Mets career which encompassed 2015 to 2021 he finished by providing the club with a 47-31 record and a 3.32 ERA.  

It's no wonder that the Angels wanted him badly enough to pay him major money without knowing if he was yet fully healed.  In his second season for the Mets he set rocket high expectations by going 14-9 with a 2.60 ERA, landing on the All Star team, finishing 8th in the Cy Young Award voting and in the top 20 for MVP.  He never achieved any of those accolades again due mostly to his arm giving him trouble.  

Arguably the best trade the club ever made, David Cone came to the Mets from the Kansas City Royals for backup catcher Ed Hearn who only had 35 more ABs over the course of his two remaining seasons in the majors.  Cone started off his first full year in New York in 1988 winning 20 games, landing on the All Star team, finishing 3rd in the Cy Young Award voting and 10th in the MVP voting.  

During his Mets career he was never far from controversy for his behavior (including the infamous "Weird Sex Acts in Bullpen" NY Post headline), but you can't argue with performance.  He finished his 6 full seasons as a Met going 84-51 with a 3.06 ERA, winning strikeout totals for the National League in consecutive years in 1990 and 1991.  

The Mets traded him to Toronto for Jeff Kent who went on to have a borderline Hall of Fame career along with Ryan Thompson.  Unfortunately, the Mets were not the recipient of most of Kent's exploits, but he was only there for the remainder of the 1992 season to help the Blue Jays pennant drive before departing as a free agent. 

Another quality starter the Mets enjoyed was rotund lefty Sid Fernandez.  Although he didn't look like he was in the best shape, I often felt he would be the guy to break the team's long streak without a no-hitter as his stuff was something otherworldly.  He finished his ten year Mets career with an impressive record of 98-78 with a 3.14 ERA. 

He was named to two All Star teams and finished 7th in the Cy Young Award voting in 1986.  Considering they obtained from the Dodgers for the final two nondescript years of Bob Bailor and three years of OK pitching of reliever Carlos Diaz, that was an incredible get for the Mets.  

Another pitcher of that era who turned out to be far better than expectations was southpaw Bobby Ojeda who the Mets obtained at age 28 from the Boston Red Sox as part of an eight-player deal.  He was the only one who truly stood out from that collection of ballplayers.  

For the Mets in 1986 he was a key part of the team that helped beat those Red Sox by going 18-5 with a 2.57 ERA which had him in the running for both the Cy Young Award and the MVP.  For his Mets career he was 51-40 with a 3.12 ERA while no one else in that deal amounted to much of anything.  

While the Wilpons were often lambasted for dredging up has-been players who were over-the-hill, one time it worked out beautifully for them was with pitcher R.A. Dickey.  He was a guy who'd had arm issues that left him unable to throw with the normal assortment of pitches with which he began his career.  Consequently he took to the knuckleball which was not an immediate quality pitch.  However, when he made it to the Mets in 2010 he appeared to be much better than anyone anticipated. 

During his first two years in New York he 19-22 which was a result of the bad teams on which he played, but sported an eye-popping 3.08 ERA.  In 2012 he wrote a storybook season during which he went 20-6 with a 2.73 ERA, striking out a batter per inning pitched and finishing with a stellar 1.053 WHIP.  That was good enough not only for an All Star appearance but also the NL Cy Young Award while finishing 14th for the MVP.  

The Mets traded him based upon that success for Noah Syndergaard, Travis d'Arnaud, John Buck and prospect Wuilmer Becerra.  Yup, that's another deal you'd make twice on Sunday.

No list would be complete without two-time Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom.  The infielder turned pitcher came up with the Mets in 2014 making 22 starts going 9-6 with a 2.69 ERA.  Little would fans realize that his ERA would actually get better than that over the course of the next seven years in a Mets uniform.  Like a great many pitchers, deGrom has fought injuries but no one can argue with his success.  

Last season, for example, he had gone 7-2 during his first 15 starts with a Bob Gibson-worthy 1.08 ERA.  Unlike many of his peers, deGrom actually increased his velocity each season which may account for the undue strain on his body.  He's yet to pitch in 2022 but the hope is that by mid season he will join the already formidable Mets starting rotation.  For his career he's 77-53 with a 2.50 ERA and 1505 strikeouts during 1262 innings pitched.  His WHIP is just 1.011 and for a frame of reference, those numbers are better than what Tom Seaver provided.  

Obviously Max Scherzer will join this list of Mets greats assuming he remains healthy for the duration of his deal.  There were other pitchers who had short term success such as George Stone in 1973, Rick Reed in 1998 and Mike Hampton in 2000.  Is there anyone who was truly outstanding for 2 or more years I missed?