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It's been a little while since we checked in on R.A. Dickey's superb season in the context of Mets history, but let's have a look at how his season compares to Dwight Gooden's 1985 and Tom Seaver's 1973 after his 7.1-inning, 3-earned-run outing against the Nationals yesterday.
| IP | ERA | K | BB | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seaver '73 | 151.1 | 2.08 | 129 | 35 |
| Gooden '85 | 146.2 | 1.78 | 142 | 41 |
| Dickey '12 | 132.1 | 2.72 | 132 | 29 |
Dickey's last three starts haven't been anywhere near as good as his first sixteen. Through nineteen starts, he obviously trails Seaver and Gooden by quite a bit in ERA, but his strikeouts and walks are still quite good.
Dickey's 4.55 strikeouts-per-walk ratio is still the best of the group at this stage of the season. He's pretty likely to finish with the best mark among the three seasons in that category, but — spoiler alert — his odds of catching either Gooden or Seaver in ERA by season's end are pretty slim.
Even if Dickey doesn't quite put up the best season of pitching in Mets history, he's still putting together one of the better years the generally pitching-rich Mets have seen in team history.