It’s been 29 years since the New York Mets last won the World Series. It had been well over a decade since they won the National League Pennant. In 2015, all the pieces aligned for a Mets World Series run, and it still seems almost inexplicable that it happened.
By most accounts, this team was still two years away from achieving much of anything. Its best asset, starting pitching, was so young (and talented) it was ridiculous. Surely this rotation wouldn’t be ready to compete at the highest level until it got more experience under its belt. Not to mention the fact that one of the future aces, Zack Wheeler, was sidelined for the year after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
Fans believed that behind the foursome of Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz – and once Wheeler returned in mid-2016 – the Mets would be set up for years to come, just not starting in 2015.
But it seemed that ’15 was a year for youngsters around the league to flourish and bloom well ahead of schedule. From the Chicago Cubs’ lineup to the Toronto Blue Jays’ closer to the Houston Astros, players around the league were excelling in their early 20s. The Mets were no exception.
Rather than struggle by taking one step back for every two steps forward, relying on a rotation of young arms was the tonic New York needed to succeed. Entering the World Series, the Mets starters have combined to throw 55.1 playoff innings, allowing 16 total earned runs while striking out 71 batters. While many teams turn to their bullpens early and often throughout the postseason, NY has seen its starters hang around, and the quartet is responsible for six of the team’s seven victories thus far.
If just the starting pitching had come along though, the Mets would still be watching the World Series at home. They needed more than quality arms to lead off games. Fortunately, they found one of the premiere closers in all of baseball to anchor their bullpen and shutdown games late. Jeurys Familia was pretty good for the Mets last year as a setup man. In 2015 as the de facto closer after Jenrry Mejia was suspended for performance-enhancing drug use, Familia became electric, and that has carried over to the playoffs. In eight appearances, Familia has thrown 9.2 innings, allowing two total hits and zero runs scored. His multiple-inning saves and untouchable outings have reminded New York residents of another famous closer from the city’s other team.
But Familia and the starters aren’t the only guys to have coming-out parties during these playoffs. The lineup, a much-maligned group during the regular season’s first half, has been great since the front office acquired Yoenis Cespedes back at the July 31st trade deadline. In these playoffs, Cespedes, Curtis Granderson and others have been serviceable, but the real hero is second baseman Daniel Murphy. All of Murphy’s numbers are off the charts. He has already set the MLB record for consecutive postseason games with a home run and already broke the Mets franchise record for playoff homeruns, but that doesn’t even tell the entire tale. His OPS sits at 1.462, a figure higher than any single regular-season mark in Major League history. The postseason is an admittedly small sample size, allowing for such quirks, but Murphy cannot be retired. It is borderline unfathomable that a career .288 hitter with no power and no speed could turn into such a behemoth during a string of games as important as these.
The Mets are no shoe-in for a championship trophy, though. They aren’t even the only feel-good story of the World Series. Opposing New York will be the Kansas City Royals, owners of back-to-back American League pennants. Kansas City has had a World Series drought one year longer than the Mets, having last won the title in 1985. And prior to last season’s miraculous run through the playoffs, the Royals’ postseason drought was even longer than that of New York.
This championship matchup will thus be one of semi-tortured fan bases looking to finally break through after half a generation of not winning much of anything at all.
It seems that KC isn’t built for the playoffs like New York is, but the Royals keep winning nonetheless. A dominant bullpen is a great way to counteract a rotation lacking an ace (let alone three or four like the Mets can trot out). A lineup made up of the best collection of contact hitters in baseball is also a great way to balance out a lack of power. Kansas City has made the World Series for two straight years now with nothing but high 90s fastballs and timely hitting, pardon the exaggeration.
The only thing that kept KC from winning the ring last year was the Herculean effort of Madison Bumgarner on the mound for San Francisco. New York has similarly talented pitchers, but no one is on the type of run Mad-Bum was on. By cutting down on the Royals’ advantages everywhere else though, New York has a very good shot at winning this thing.
It’s hard to pinpoint which team has the better bullpen right now. It is hard to say which lineup is hitting better. You have to like NY’s starting rotation, giving it the slight edge there, but KC has a peerless defense and World Series experience. Perhaps the easiest way to settle this series is by determining which side has Daniel Murphy, AKA Slim Babe Ruth. That distinction has worked to settle every other playoff series to this point.
