The All-Star game is about a month and a half away from commencing at Petco Park in California. Which New York Mets will be making the trip?
By Chris Bean
All teams are allotted at least one spot on their respective league’s roster but the New York Mets may have many deciding the fate of the World Series. The All-Star Game has become a bit of a popularity contest as of late, especially last year with the entire starting 9 for the Royals being in the lead at one point in time but there are at least a handful if not more deserving Mets for 2016.
The Mets are fresh off a World Series run last year and have not slowed down. Last year it was the Mets’ pitching and post all star game offense that carried them to the Fall Classic.
This year the pitching has had some help from the much improved Mets’ offense that was basically non-existent most of last year.
There should be some shoo-ins on this Mets’ roster as well as some players who could potentially be basking in the sun in San Diego, California. Let’s take a look at who those players could be.
Yoenis Cespedes
The resigning of Yoenis Cespedes has proven to be one of the greatest decisions the Mets organization has made in quite some time.
Not only is Cespedes and his neon yellow arm sleeve a fan favorite at Shea Stadium, he is having an MVP-caliber kind of season as it stands right now. Cespedes is batting .281 with 15 homers and 36 RBI and is tied for the league lead in home runs while tied for 11th best in terms of runs batted in.
The native of Cuba has made one all-star appearance which was in 2014 when he made the team as a member of the Oakland Athletics. 2016 should be a no-brainer for the Mets’ offensive savior after the trade deadline last year.
Neil Walker
2016 free agent signing Neil Walker, has turned out to be a very nice pickup for the Mets. The 30-year old is hitting .273, with 12 homers and 23 RBI. Those 12 home runs are 3 shy of the league lead and four less than he hit all of a year ago.
Walker’s home runs are leading all National League second basemen by four and his 23 RBI put him at fifth among that same group. He has never made an all-star appearance and he does have some competition this year in the likes of former Met Daniel Murphy and Ben Zobrist but there is no clear cut above all second baseman.
If Walker could go on a real hot streak from now until the all-star voting he should have a real shot at making his first appearance. Mets’ fans should definitely help him out here because he is deserving of the nod.
Steven Matz
Out of the big four pitchers the Mets have, Rookie Steven Matz has been the best of them this year.
Matz has seven wins this year which is two shy of the league lead while posted a 2.86 ERA through a total of eight games played. Due to the fact that Matz was only on the roster for less than 45 days last year, he is still considered a rookie so not only is he in line for his first all-star appearance but he is also one of the favorites for NL Rookie of the Year.
Who would have thought that out of Harvey, Syndergaard, and deGrom, that Steven Matz would have pitched the best in 2016? Matz has given up nine fewer hits (40/49) than innings pitched and is averaging about a strikeout per inning with 50.
The Mets truly have built a top-notch pitching staff. Matz may not be as popular with the fan voting but he sure deserves to make the all-star game in his rookie season.
Noah Syndergaard
Noah Syndergaard is off to another impressive start to his season as he is 5-2 with a measly 1.87 ERA which puts him at third in the National League among qualifying starters. This would be Thor’s first all-star appearance with much more to come.
Not only is Syndergaard’s ERA impressive but he has struck out 79 batters in 62.2 innings pitched this year and only has given up 52 hits thanks to his electric stuff and as mentioned above, he has not even been the best pitcher on this Mets team. Syndergaard is well deserving of the fan vote if he continues on the pace he is on in this year’s campaign.
Jeurys Familia
Mets’ closer Jeurys Familia is tied for the league lead and is 17 for 17 in save opportunities this year, not blowing one. The intimidating righty joins the most of the list above for this potentially being his first all-star appearance.
Familia has continued his dominance as a closer, where last year he had an impressive 43 saves. The only downfall to Familia’s season is his ERA, which at 3.91, over 2 runs higher than last year’s mark. Familia is going to need the Mets’ faithful to vote him in but his lead in saves should make him deserving to be in San Diego.
Other Notable Mets:
Matt Harvey
Matt Harvey is 4 and 7 on the year with a 5.37 ERA. His last game was the Harvey of old as the Dark Knight came back to New York. Harvey will need the rest of his starts to be like his last for him to be deserving. He could have fan vote on his side though no matter what his numbers look like.
Jacob deGrom
Jacob deGrom has had a disappointing season thus far in terms of his potential as he is 3-1 with a 2.81 ERA and has only 37 strikeouts in 48 innings pitched. He also could get the fan vote as everyone knows his potential and based on the season he had last year.
Mets’ fans get out there and vote if you want to see these guys in San Diego helping the National League secure home-field advantage in the World Series.