Kyle Farnsworth

Best Mets Of All Time: No. 58 Jenrry Mejia

If you want to talk about one of the most truly bizarre Mets careers, you need not look much further than Jenrry Mejia. Really, it started that way, and it ended that way.

Mejia was shockingly a member of the Opening Day roster for the 2010 Mets at the behest of Jerry Manuel. Seeing his power arm, Manuel wanted the Mets to eschew his development as a potential front line starter and make him the bullpen arm the team needed. The Mets would acquiesce and give Manuel some conditions, ones Manuel would ultimately by and large ignore.

That started a strange four year odyssey where the Mets could not figure out if they wanted Mejia to be a starter or reliever. Initially after sending him down in 2010, they wanted to stretch him out to be a starter, but time and again, they would move him back to the bullpen. That may have been a factor in his needing Tommy John surgery in 2011.

You could somewhat understand the Mets thinking. Mejia was one of the best pitchers in the organization, and for a team in perpetual need of bullpen help, you could see why they wanted him on the Major League roster. However, when he did get the rare chance to start, he would show flashes of being great.

Mejia had a good stretch in the Major League rotation in 2013, and before he was shut down for innings limits in 2013, he appeared to have locked down a spot in the Major League rotation. In fact, he would be a part of the 2014 Opening Day rotation, and he would actually start the season quite well including another terrific start against the Nationals.

Mejia would weaken over the first month of the season, and he would again be moved to the bullpen. This time, he would stick there, and after the retread arms of Kyle Farnsworth and Jose Valverde were released, Mejia was named as the teams’ closer. He proved up the to task.

From May 17, when he recorded his first save, until the end of the year, he recorded 28 saves, which was tied for 11th most in the Majors. It is also the 17th highest single-season save total in Mets history. Again, this needs the added context of this being named the closer after a month-and-a-half of the season had passed and while pitching for a sub .500 team.

During that time, Mets fans thought they had the closer of the future, and he would electrify the crowd with what had become known as the “Mejia Stomp” after he converted a save. What should have been the launching point of his career turned into his being a flash in the pan.

On Opening Day of 2015, Mejia injured his elbow warming up to earn a save. He’d land on the DL with elbow inflammation, and he would receive the first of his PED suspensions. In total, he’d only make seven scoreless appearances for the 2015 Mets before being levied with PED suspensions leading to what was then a permanent suspension from baseball. He would be the first such player to serve such a suspension in MLB history.

Despite that, Mejia has performed better than any of the four players who has worn the number 58, and as a result, him and his stomp are the best to ever wear that number in Mets history.

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1.Mookie Wilson
2.Mackey Sasser
3. Curtis Granderson
4. Lenny Dykstra
5. David Wright
6. Wally Backman
7. Jose Reyes
8. Gary Carter
9. Todd Hundley
10. Rey Ordonez
11. Wayne Garrett
12. John Stearns
13. Edgardo Alfonzo
14. Gil Hodges
15. Carlos Beltran
16. Dwight Gooden
17. Keith Hernandez
18. Darryl Strawberry
19. Bob Ojeda
20. Howard Johnson
21. Cleon Jones
22. Al Leiter
23. Bernard Gilkey
24. Art Shamsky
25. Pedro Feliciano
26. Terry Leach
27. Jeurys Familia
28. Daniel Murphy
29. Frank Viola
30. Michael Conforto
31. Mike Piazza
32. Jon Matlack
33. Matt Harvey
34. Noah Syndergaard
35. Rick Reed
36. Jerry Koosman
37. Casey Stengel
38. Skip Lockwood
39. Gary Gentry
40. Bartolo Colon
41. Tom Seaver
42. Ron Taylor
43. R.A. Dickey
44. David Cone
45. Tug McGraw
46. Oliver Perez
47. Jesse Orosco
48. Jacob deGrom
49. Armando Benitez
50. Sid Fernandez
51. Rick White
52. Yoenis Cespedes
53. Chad Bradford
54. T.J. Rivera
55. Orel Hershiser
56. Andres Torres
57. Johan Santana

 

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2000 Game Recap: Mets Sweep Double-Header From Cubs

If Don Baylor was angry with Bobby Valentine and the Mets for protesting the Cubs Opening Day victory due to Baylor’s lineup snafu, he may be downright livid right now with the Mets sweeping the doubleheader after Friday night’s game was rained out.

In the opener, Glendon Rusch had another terrific outing to start the season. He followed his complete game loss against the Pirates with a seven inning effort picking up the win after allowing just two earned on four hits. One thing which is really standing out with Rusch right now is he not only working fast, but he is also not beating himself by being stingy with his walks.

When the Cubs finally got to him in the seventh with a pair of homers by Mark Grace and Shane Andrews, the Mets already had a 3-2 lead. With the Mets holding onto Mike Piazza to catch the knuckleballer in the second end of the doubleheader, the Mets utilized more of a small ball approach.

In the first inning, Robin Ventura knocked in the first run of the game with an RBI groundout. The Mets expanded the lead with a groundout by Todd Pratt and an RBI single from Matt Franco.

The Mets would then blow the game open in the eighth. After Pratt drew a lead-off walk and moved to second on a ground out (not ruled a sacrifice) by Franco, Melvin Mora was intentionally walked. Rey Ordonez responded with an RBI single. After Piazza entered the game as a pinch hitter and was walked, Benny Agbayani and Derek Bell hit back-to-back doubles giving the Mets an 8-2 lead in a game they would eventually win 8-3.

In the second half of the doubleheader, for the first time in team history, they would start a knuckleball pitcher with Dennis Springer taking the mound. Springer would acquit himself well taking the no decision after allowing three runs over 5.1 innings.

Springer was staked with an early lead when Agbayani hit a bases loaded two RBI single to give the Mets an early 2-0 lead. The rally ended there was Todd Zeile committed the mortal sin of making the last out at third after getting caught by Henry Rodriguez in his attempt to go from first to third.

The Cubs first got to Springer in the fifth with a Jeff Huson RBI single. They would then chase Springer in the fifth. After allowing back-to-back doubles to Rodriguez and Jeff Reed, the Cubs took the lead 3-2. After a Roosevelt Brown single, Valentine got Springer.

Dennis Cook made an immediate impact by picking Brown off first. After the intentional walk to Andrews, Cook retired Kyle Farnsworth to get the Mets out of the jam. If Baylor could make that decision again, he would probably pinch hit for Farnsworth.

The Mets would have a big bottom of the sixth starting with a Robin Ventura lead-off homer. The Mets would then load the bases for Ordonez who delivered another big hit with a two RBI single. The big inning continued with a Melvin Mora sacrifice fly. Piazza then reached on a Andrews error, who stayed in the game for defensive purposes, allowing Ordonez to score. This gave the Mets a 7-3 lead.

Rodriguez would do all he could do to try to bring the Cubs back. In the top of the seventh, he hit an RBI double off of Cook to pull the Cubs within 7-4. In the ninth, with Armando Benitez on for the save, he hit a two run homer to pull the Cubs within 7-6.

Benitez rebounded to strike out Tarrik Brock to end the game. With that strikeout, the Mets swept the doubleheader, and the team has now won six straight games.

In the doubleheader, the Mets had a number of players come up big. Derek Bell was 6-for-8 with two doubles. Agbayani was 3-for-4 with a double. The most surprising was Ordonez who was 3-for-7 with a double and three RBI. Ultimately, when the Mets are getting that type of production at the plate from Ordonez, they are unbeatable.

Game 1 Notes: Franco’s single in the sixth broke an 0-for-12 stretch to start the season.

Game 2 Notes: Piazza had previously caught Springer in the minor leagues, which was one of the reasons why he caught him in the second game.

Editor’s Note: With there being no games to begin the season, this site will follow the 2000 season and post recaps as if those games happened in real time. If nothing else, it is better to remember this pennant winning season and revisit some of the overlooked games than it is to dwell on the complete lack of baseball.

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