Addison Reed's First Full Year With The New York Mets Was More Than Sensational
Jul 10, 2016; New York City, NY, USA; New York Mets relief pitcher Addison Reed (43) delivers a pitch during the ninth inning against the Washington Nationals at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

Addison Reed‘s first full year with the New York Mets was nothing short of sensational.

Heading into the 2016 season, the New York Mets were hopeful that Addison Reed would be able to replicate the numbers he showed with the club in 2015. New York seemed to be confident that Reed could take over the setup role after they let Tyler Clippard go in free agency. Little did the Mets know Reed would go on to have the best season of his career.

The right-hander would stumble right out of the gates in 2016. In the month of April, he worked 12.1 innings where he allowed five earned runs and posted a 3.65 ERA. In that time frame, Reed would strikeout 16 batters but it would seem he struggled to find the plate at times. The setup man allowed four walks which averaged to just a four strikeouts per walk ratio. Even though Reed did not have much success, he held opposing hitters to bat just .178/.240/.244. Heading into the month of May, he was hoping to become the shutdown relief pitcher the Mets saw in 2015.

Reed was a completely different pitcher in the month of May and gave the Mets exactly what they were looking for out of their eighth inning man. The Mets eighth inning man would come into his own, holding batters to average just .205 against him. While the batting average against was slightly up, opponents on-base percentage and slugging were down tremendously. While these stats are impressive, he allowed just zero runs in 10.1 innings of work. Another stat that Reed improved was his strikeout to walk ratio, improving his ratio from four to 14, which was key to his success in the month of May.

Heading into the month of June, the reliever was looking to continue his blistering month of May, but that wouldn’t be the case. He would once again struggle with walks, walking four batters in 14 innings of work but also had 14 strikeouts. Batters would raise their average and slash .226/.281/.396 leaving the right-handed pitcher to hold an ERA of 3.21. While struggling, Reed did pick up two wins in the month but also had two losses as well. Heading into July, the Mets eighth inning man would look to bounce back and repeat the stellar month he had in May.

Reed seemed to have hit the reset button in July, where he had one of the best months of his career to date. He was leaving batters mumbling to themselves walking back to the dugout. Reed faced 44 batters in the month of July, allowing just five hits and did not allow a single extra-base hit all month. To add onto his stats from this spectacular month, the right-hander struck out 19 batters and walked none in his 13 innings of work, and posted a career-high WHIP of 0.385. Reed was one the best relief pitchers in the month of July and would look to continue his success heading into August.

Going down the stretch, Reed would look to continue his dominance and help the New York Mets make the playoffs. Unfortunately for Reed, this would not be the case. He would have the worst month of his year in August where batters seemed to have the setup man’s number, slashing .300/.333/.460. He would face 50 batters allowing a season-high 15 hits and giving up eight extra base hits.

Once again, Reed would bounce back in the month of September, adding a reliable arm down the stretch for the New York Mets. He would face 55 batters in the final month of the season, allowing just 12 hits and leaving hitters batting just .218. The strikeout numbers were impressive once again as well, striking out 17 batters and posting an ERA of 1.80 in 15 innings of work.

Reed’s most important inning of the year came in October for the NL Wild Card game, when the Mets called upon him to keep the game scoreless in the eighth inning and did not disappoint. The right-hander would get himself into a bases-loaded jam but dug deep and got Hunter Pence to swing and miss on a 1-2 fastball, which was his biggest strikeout to date.

Overall, Addison Reed was everything the Mets could hope for and more in his first full year with the team. Posting an ERA of 1.97, striking out 91 batters, and tallied 40 holds in his 2016 campaign. The Mets and Reed will look to have the same success in 2017 and push for a world championship, the Mets first since 1986.