By Pat Tintle
Sports Editor
New York City is known for many things, but one of its most iconic cultural aspects is baseball. With 32 World Series titles won by New York teams throughout Major League Baseball history, it’s safe to say that the Big Apple is the greatest baseball town in the nation.
For the past two and a half decades, the Yankees have claimed kingship of New York. Their late 1990s run, in which the Yankees started their streak of 13 straight playoff berths, solidified the Bronx Bombers as New York’s dominant baseball team.
But with the 2015 season merely two weeks away, the Yankees don’t have the same mojo they expressed just six years ago when they won the World Series over the Philadelphia Phillies. With burdensome contracts wasting away on underperforming players, and off-the-field distractions from third baseman Alex Rodriguez, the Yankees have become more of the tabloid kings of New York rather than the baseball kings. And with a team loaded with young, talented pitching just a few miles to the southeast, the pinstriped reign may have found its successor in orange and blue.
When considering the current rosters of both New York teams, the Mets have a new sense of optimism—both in the clubhouse and among fans—that can break the Amazins’ streak of six straight losing seasons.
The optimism comes from the pitching staff. Matt Harvey, who sat out all of 2014 recovering from Tommy John surgery, will make his return to the MLB in April. Despite only winning nine games in his 2013 campaign, Harvey was still able to finish fourth in the National League Cy Young voting. His 2013 2.27 earned run average, and 191 strikeouts in 178.1 innings would give any team a morale, and statistical, boost, especially a team already heralded as a young pitching factory. Harvey, along with 2014 National League Rookie of the Year Jacob DeGrom, will lead a rotation of power pitchers with a balance of youth and veteran presence; that veteran presence coming from left-handed pitcher Jon Niese and right-handed pitcher Bartolo Colon. The Mets’ announcement of 24-year-old Zach Wheeler’s Tommy John surgery is a concern (Wheeler will sit out all of 2015), but will not impair the Mets in the immediate future when looking at Wheeler’s 1.327 walk and hits per innings pitched and his good, but not great, 3.52 ERA.
Even with good pitching in past years, the Mets have seen losing seasons mostly due to their anemic offensive production. No Mets hitter had a productive season last year except for first baseman Lucas Duda, who hit 30 homeruns and drove in 92 runs, and second baseman Daniel Murphy with his .289 batting average. Even the captain, third baseman David Wright, was held to just eight homeruns and 63 runs batted in [although Wright later revealed that he was playing with a shoulder injury most of the season].
So what’s changed offensively for the Mets going into 2015? Their biggest move of the offseason was signing 36 year-old outfielder Michael Cuddyer to a two-year contract. While Cuddyer is no future Hall of Famer, the former Colorado Rockie does bring something to the Mets lineup that has been absent in the last few seasons — consistency. Cuddyer was limited to 49 games in 2014, but posted a .332 batting average and a .955 on base plus slugging percentage in that time. The thin Colorado air may have inflated Cuddyer’s statistics, but his road average last season was at a respectable .282 and knocked out four of his 10 home runs away from Coors Field. Cuddyer will not hit above .330 as a Met, but he will hit above the standards recently associated with Mets baseball.
Consistency from Cuddyer, a healthy Wright, replicated performances from Duda and Murphy, and perhaps a more comfortable Curtis Granderson will make the Mets’ offense tolerable to watch in the 2015. A tolerable offense, paired with a projected stellar pitching staff — and more jaw-dropping plays from 2014 Gold Glove winner centerfielder Juan Lagares — can make the Mets an 88-win team by the time October rolls around.
Is 88 wins enough to win the National League East? No, but it can certainly be enough to capture a wild-card spot.
This is not to say that the Yankees will fare poorly next season. It is true that the Mark Texieras and the C.C Sabbathias have lost their talents, but the American League East should not forget about the return of Japanese-import Masahiro Tanaka. The pitcher threw for a 13-5 record and a 2.77 ERA in 2014 and the Yankees have no reason to believe that Tanaka cannot do even better in 2015. Yes, the Yankees lineup looks more like a 2010 All-Star team rather than a 2015 one, but players like catcher Brian McCann and centerfielder Jacoby Ellsbury have significant upsides to their games.
For the Yankees to top their 2014 mark of 84 wins will take a lot of situations working out in the team’s favor.
The Yankees can say they claim New York baseball history, but as April 6 approaches, the Mets can say with confidence that they have New York’s future.
Pat Tintle is the sports editor at The Bona Venture. His email is tintleph11@bonaventure.edu
