Remember when the Mets opened the season with a 3-5 record and had scored only 2.5 runs per game? They’ve now won eight of their last ten and have the third-best run differential in the National League at +36. So long, Panic City. Any month that puts a team on pace for a 105-win season will generate lasting memories. Here are our favorites from April 2016. — Scott D. Simon (@scottdsimon)
April 5: Noah Syndergaard’s First Start
Noah Syndergaard was one of the best pitchers in baseball late last season and throughout the playoffs. You might have already read about his ascendance in these pages. In Spring Training, Syndergaard looked like he had made further gains, and he was a trendy preseason sleeper Cy Young pick. But until March turns to April and the real games start, you don’t know.
After Syndergaard’s start in the second game of the season in Kansas City, we knew. Per Brooks Baseball, Syndergaard threw 23 sliders in that start, more than in any career start to that point, and one of them hit 95 MPH. His average fastball and sinker velocities were both just a hair under 99 MPH. Syndergaard allowed just three hits over six innings, struck out nine, the Mets won, and the debate whether to crown Noah Syndergaard as baseball’s best had begun. – Jarrett Seidler (@jaseidler)
April 5: The First Jim Henderson Experience
As Jarrett covered above, the second game of the season showed off plenty of important velocity, but not all of it belonged to our beloved Syndergaard. It had been a long road back to the majors for Henderson, who was the de facto closer for the Brewers heading into the 2014 season, but did not register a save thanks to some questionable managerial decisions, a shoulder injury and (finally) Tommy John surgery that August. In fact, it had been more than 23 months since he was on a major league mound. Yet, the most famous player the Mets signed to a minor league contract this off-season showed why he made the bullpen out of Spring Training very quickly.
He started off Alex Gordon with five fastballs; the slowest of which was a shade under 96 mph, and the last of which sent him back to the dugout swinging. With a few sliders mixed in, Henderson took care of the Royals in order and without incident that day. The return of the swing-and-miss stuff was a specter of what was to come throughout most of April, as Henderson got six whiffs in just 13 pitches that inning. Now, the challenge will be to keep him healthy (hi Terry) and operating as a key member of the bridge to Jeurys Familia. – Bret Sayre (@dynastyguru)
April 8: The Home Opener
Sure, we all enjoyed the 7-2 victory. Jacob deGrom threw six strong, Michael Conforto and Neil Walker previewed their stunningly great April hitting performances. It was even pretty cool when Rusty Staub, Edgardo Alfonso and John Franco raised the flag symbolizing the Mets’ appearance in last year’s World Series.
But my favorite moment of an April full of great ones arrived when it came time to introduce the Mets’ 2016 roster to the Citi Field faithful. The manager and coaching staff had already been announced; they were lined up on the first-base line across from the entire Phillies team. Then Howie Rose named the former starting shortstop — and nearly former Met — Wilmer Flores. The extended standing ovation for Flores got me almost as teary-eyed as Wilmer was when he learned he had been traded. Nicely done, Mets fans. — Scott D. Simon (@scottdsimon)
April 10: Bartolo is the Willie Mays of the Infield
(I realize that I am in danger of my BP contributions gradually morphing into “This Week in Bartolo,” but that is a chance I am willing to take.)
I worry sometimes that we are on the wrong side of the line between laughing at Bartolo and laughing with Bartolo. Yes, he is a big, round man, but occasionally there is an edge in how we talk about him, a slightly hidden sneer like when Jerry Remy would call Rich Garces “El Guapo.” There can and should be genuine enjoyment in his outlier status. And his work on the mound is no less beautiful for being surrounded by a young staff that can touch 100 and throw terrifying breaking balls. Does Matt Harvey make this play? I don’t know. Bartolo did.
Range-based defensive metrics may be horribly broken. Still, I really want to believe that Bart has already saved two runs with his glove. My favorite part of this play is the wry smile that Bartolo allows himself after making the play. The 2016 Mets look like they are going to be pretty good, and players like Syndergaard, Cespedes, and Conforto will continue grabbing headlines here and elsewhere. But for me, Bart’s Willie Mays impression was a reminder that over a long season, baseball is about the simple, fleeting joys. And come on, Mays didn’t end his play with a behind-the-back flip. — Jeffrey Paternostro (@jeffpaternostro)
April 12: Thor Ascending
Noah Syndergaard was already one of the Mets’ most popular players when he took the mound in Miami for his second start of the season. After a promising rookie campaign and a memorable postseason, he had begun 2016 by fanning nine Royals to give the Mets their first victory of the year. Fans outside Queens knew he was talented, but he was still overshadowed by Matt Harvey and a little underrated. But with Harvey struggling, Thor’s second start truly seemed to capture the attention of the rest of baseball.
It began in style, as Syndergaard struck out Dee Gordon on three pitches. A pop-up followed, and then Syndergaard reeled off five strikeouts in a row, dazzling talented hitters like Giancarlo Stanton and Christian Yelich with his high-octane fastball and knee-buckling breaking pitches. Six of the first seven outs were strikeouts. Through five innings, 11 batters went down on strikes.
The Marlins scored a run only with the help of a couple ground ball singles. When the dust settled, Syndergaard had struck out 12 batters in seven innings of work, overpowering the competition. Perhaps a new ace had arrived. — Andrew Mearns (@MearnsPSA)
April 18: The Debut of #SNYWhale
All was quiet in the top of the fourth. Tied at one versus the Phillies, Lucas Duda innocently flew out to center. And then
In an earlier age, this would be an isolated incident for those lucky enough to witness the technological absurdity in the regional market. But this is why baseball, augmented by the rise of social media, is a beautifully universal language. Anybody following #MetsTwitter would have witnessed a flurry of tweets (and the obligatory Twitter account) about this whale. The game took on a whole new meaning — even non-fans could interact over the technical error. The #SNYWhale is the best moment from the season’s first month because it’s the lone moment where everybody could meaningfully interact over a baseball-related event. For everything else, there’s bias: team bias, preferring pitching masterpieces or a bevy of runs, or whether you like your defensive plays made by large, majestic pitchers or not. The #SNYWhale has found a home in the baseball watcher’s lexicon. — Brian Duricy (@briansusername_)
April 18: David Wright’s Two-Homer Game
Questioning David Wright’s baseball mortality has become a daily ritual. Some of that is irrational. We’re Mets fans, after all. But Wright is 33 years old with a chronic back condition that requires hours of stretching and core work for him to even get on the field. This makes him a huge wild card for 2016 and beyond, but every once in a while he reminds us that he’s still alive and kicking. And swinging. Facing a familiar foe in the Phillies, Wright homered off Jerad Eickhoff in the first inning before taking Elvis Araujo deep in the ninth. That performance gave Wright his first two-homer game since June 20, 2013. Maybe this wasn’t as impactful as some of his other big moments at Citizens Bank Park. Homering with a broken pinkie finger in 2012 and in his first at-bat back from the disabled list last year come to mind. But he’s still adding to that list of moments, which is something that Mets fans shouldn’t take for granted. — D.J. Short (@djshort)
April 18-20: Back-to-Back Fever
My favorite moment of the season so far is technically a combination of moments. The Mets hitting four back-to-back home runs in a five-game stretch spurred me to do a lot of research on back-to-back home runs (which you’ll see in my very first article for BP – Mets later this week). When their barrage started, the Mets were 5-6 and people were questioning the potency of their offense after a rough spring training and a weak start to the season. Five games (and four wins) later they had succeeded in changing those perceptions and they’ve been crushing the ball ever since. — Craig Glaser (@sabometrics)
April 24: Jacob deGrom Wins First Start After Son’s Birth/Health Scare
As the parent of a 2-year-old, I can’t fathom what would tear me apart more than my son dealing with a major medical issue. So when I heard that deGrom’s newborn son, Jaxon, had an undisclosed health complication — something we later learned was a kind of sleep apnea that was hindering his breathing — I felt that kind of innate, vicarious fear that one parent can feel for another who’s going through an anxious period of uncertainty.
Thankfully, deBaby’s condition improved and dadGrom returned to the mound 16 days after his first and only start of the season. (And yes, deGrom also used that time to recover from some lat tightness suffered in his first start, but that was very clearly a secondary concern the entire time and it feels crass to even mention it.) So with a healthy son back at home, deGrom hurled an encouraging start in Atlanta, inducing 13 ground balls from 24 batters and allowing only one run in 5 2/3 innings. That 3-2 win secured the Mets’ first season sweep of an opponent and gave the late-April surge continued life. I can’t fully comprehend all the emotions that must’ve been swimming through deGrom’s head that night, but as a fellow dad, I have something of an idea. — Erik Malinowski (@erikmal)
April 26: Yoenis Cespedes’s Game-Tying 3-Run Homer
Some players just defy numerical value. We know their WARP, their TAv, their blood pressure, their zodiac sign, but none of that explains how their mere presence transforms a game. Anedote-y? Yes. Rife with recall bias? 100%. But last Tuesday night, when Yoenis Cespedes came up to pinch hit in the 7th inning, ice-cold from spending the previous 4 days on the bench with a bruised hip, he reminded Mets fans why his arrival last July changed the course of the season. Never one to miss an opportunity to swing, he launched the first pitch he saw over the left field fence, a line drive shot that left his bat at 110mph and took his team from a 3-run deficit to a tie in the span of 2.27 seconds. That’s a game-changer. — Maggie Wiggin (@maggie162)
April 29: The 12-Run Third Inning
In the third inning of Friday night’s game, the Mets did something beyond video game stats. The first 12 batters all reached base successfully (Steven Matz tried to sacrifice bunt and failed). Yoenis Cespedes was the last in the streak with a home run to left, setting several Mets records. The average MLB player had a .319 on base percentage through April. This means the chance of 12 straight batters reaching base is 1 in 900,528. To do this on a cold night? In a pitcher’s park? Records are meant to be broken but this one may stand for a long time in Mets history. — Noah Grand (@noahgrand)
Photo Credit: Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports