Plenty has already been said about the Ramon Castro situation, so I won't pile on. Despite his injury issues, Castro was a valuable backup for the Mets and he deserves some kind of tribute. Here it is, Castro's top 10 most valuable Mets plate appearances according to WPA (via Fangraphs). Format inspired by this post:
10. 7/21/05
Play: 2-run homer off Jake Peavy in the 5th inning
WPA: .168
Game Result: Mets 12, Padres 0
Castro's home run gave the Mets a 3-0 lead, and Peavy surrendered 7 runs in 5 innings. Kaz Ishii was the winning pitcher, allowing 9 baserunners but no runs in 6 innings.
9. 9/22/07
Play: 3-run homer off Byun-Hyun Kim in the 4th inning
WPA: .188
Game Result: Mets 7, Marlins 2
2007 was by far Castro's best season, and the September collapse was not his fault. He hit .308/.400/.769 in limited plate appearances that month.
8. 6/16/07
Play: 2-run homer off Tyler Clippard in the 4th inning
WPA: .189
Game Result: Mets 8, Yankees 11
The only game on this list that resulted in a Mets loss, Tom Glavine got shelled in 4 awful innings of work at Yankee Stadium.
7. 8/1/07
Play: 3-run homer off Claudio Vargas in the 2nd inning
WPA: .192
Game Result: Mets 8, Brewers 5
Marlon Anderson and Shawn Green also tagged home runs. Life was good after this one, as the Mets had a 3.5 game lead in the standings.
6. 7/20/08
Play: 2-run homer off Edinson Volquez in the 3rd inning
WPA: .194
Game Result: Mets 7, Reds 5
This blast gave the Mets the lead in the 3rd inning, but they fell behind in the 6th. However, despite the lack of team-wide grission, a 10th inning rally ended in a W.
5. 7/1/08
Play: 2-run double off Todd Wellemeyer in the 4th inning
WPA: .206
Game Result: Mets 7, Cardinals 4
Castro's double tied the game, and the Mets took the lead for good in the next inning. Mets pitchers held Albert Pujols to just 1 hit in 4 at-bats, obviously because of the brilliant game called by their catcher.
4. 8/20/05
Play: 3-run homer off Livan Hernandez in the 2nd inning
WPA: .231
Game Result: Mets 9, Nationals 8
David Wright and Jose Reyes also homered in this wild one, which saw the Mets bullpen give up 8 runs in the 7th-9th innings. Chris Woodward hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the 10th to send everyone home happy.
3. 7/9/08
Play: 3-run homer off Jonathan Sanchez in the 4th inning
WPA: .285
Game Result: Mets 5, Giants 0
This game was in the middle of a 10 game winning streak which saw the Mets pick up 5.5 games in the standings. Aaron Heilman, Duaner Sanchez, and Joe Smith combined to pitch 4 hitless innings to close it out.
2. 4/16/05
Play: RBI single off Guillermo Mota in the 9th inning
WPA: .396
Game Result: Mets 4, Marlins 3
A walk-off single vs. the hated Mota: awesome.
1. 8/30/05
Play: 3-run homer off Ugueth Urbina in the 8th inning
WPA: .546
Game Result: Mets 6, Phillies 4
The single greatest plate appearance of Castro's Met career completed a come from behind victory over the Phillies.
To Hippo, Darth Catcher, Blastro, or whatever else they call you - stay healthy in Chicago and make the Mets "brain trust" look ridiculous by having a nice season.