The best Mets seasons of the decade: Hitters

Against all odds, we’ve made it through another decade of Mets baseball. Ten more years have been put in the books, so it’s time to look back at the best Mets performances of the 2010s, staring with the hitters.

Unlike the classic “team of the decade” format - which is a fun exercise in its own right - the objective here is to create a team using the best Mets seasons of the decade. The only rule, other than “let’s have fun!” is that players can only appear once on the list, other than the honorable mention section. Other than that, there are no rules - again, other than “let’s have fun!”

C: Travis d’Arnaud (2015) 268 PA, .268/.340/.485, 12 HR, 3.4 fWAR

While his Mets career was marred by injuries, d’Arnaud was an integral part of the 2015 team that won the pennant; his solo shot that smacked off of the Home Run Apple in Game 1 of the NLCS was one of the most memorable moments of that postseason run. Fun fact: during his first two full seasons, d’Arnaud was fifth among all catchers with a 6.2 fWAR.

Honorable mention: Wilson Ramos (2019) 524 PA, .288/.351/.416 14 HR, 1.4 fWAR

1B: Pete Alonso (2019) 693 PA, .260/.358/.583, 53 HR, 4.8 fWAR

How much does a Polar Bear weigh? Enough to break the single-season rookie home run record. Alonso burst onto the scene, winning the NL Rookie of the Year award, and giving Mets fans one of the easiest players to root for in all of sports. Among all of the positions on this fake team, this was probably the easiest call to make.

HM: Lucas Duda (2014) 596 PA .253/.349/.481, 30 HR, 3.1 fWAR

Lucas Duda(2015) 554 PA, .244/.352/.486, 27 HR, 3.2 fWAR

2B: Jeff McNeil (2019) 567 PA, .318/.384/.531, 23 HR, 4.6 fWAR

This might be cheating, since McNeil played only 37 games at second base in 2019, but that would make him eligible in even the strictest fantasy league, and this is essentially a fantasy team. It’s also not particularly close between him and the next eligible player, so a little rule-fudging is in order. The Flying Squirrel’s All-Star season was one of the most pleasant surprises, and simply one of the best Mets seasons of the decade. And if you’re still not buying it, that’s why honorable mentions were invented.

HM: Neil Walker (2016) 458 PA, .282/.347/.476, 23 HR, 3.6 fWAR

Daniel Murphy (2015 postseason) 64 PA, .328/.391/.724, 7 HR

3B: David Wright (2012) 670 PA, .306/.391/.492, 21 HR, 6.6 fWAR

One of only two fully healthy seasons this decade, the Mets’ all time hits leader’s 2012 season was classic David Wright; he did a little bit of everything, and he did it all well. This team would not be complete without its captain. Okay, maybe this was the easiest call to make.

HM: David Wright (2013) 492 PA, .307/.390/.514, 18 HR, 5.6 fWAR

Wilmer Flores (That one swing in 2015) 1 PA, 1 HR, 1 million tears of joy, 1 unforgettable moment

SS: Jose Reyes (2011) 586 PA, .337/.384/.493, 39 SB, 5.8 fWAR

Though this season may best be remembered for Reyes’ decision to pull himself out of the final game of the year once he had a comfortable lead in the race for the batting title, it was still an incredibly impressive statistical performance for the franchise’s all-time leader in stolen bases, triples, and lead-off home runs.

HM: Asdrubal Cabrera (2016) 568 PA, .280/.336/.474, 23 HR, 3.6 fWAR

Amed Rosario (2019) 655 PA, .287/.323/.432, 15 HR, 2.7 fWAR

OF: Curtis Granderson (2015) 682 PA, .259/.364/.457, 26 HR, 5.3 fWAR

The four year, $60-million contract given to Granderson turned out to be one of the best free agent deals the Mets made this decade. Always an excellent face for the game of baseball, Granderson continued to excel on the field as well, averaging over three fWAR per season as a Met. Easily worth the salmon.

OF: Brandon Nimmo (2018) 535 PA, .263/.404/.483, 17 HR, 4.5 fWAR

In Nimmo’s first full season, he led all Mets position players in fWAR. He also set a franchise record by getting plunked 22 times. It’s just a shame that he never seems to be having any fun.

OF: Michael Conforto (2017) 440 PA, .279/.384/.555, 27 HR, 4.4 fWAR

Conforto was far and away the Mets’ best position player in 2017, as his 4.4 fWAR was nearly double that of the next-closest player (Granderson’s 2.3), and his 147 wRC+ would have ranked in the top-10 in all of baseball had he accumulated enough at-bats to qualify.

HM: Angel Pagan (2010) 633 PA, .290/.340/.425, 11 HR, 37 SB, 4.9 fWAR

Carlos Beltran (2011) 419 PA, .289/.391/.513, 15 HR, 3.2 fWAR, 1.0 Zack Wheelers acquired

Marlon Byrd (2013) 464 PA, .285/.330/.518, 21 HR, 3.3 fWAR

Yoenis Cespedes (2015) 249 PA, .287/.337/.604, 17 HR, 2.6 fWAR

Yoenis Cespedes (2016) 543 PA, .280/.354/.530 31 HR, 3.7 fWAR

J.D. Davis (2019) 453 PA, .307/.369/.527, 22 HR, 2.4 fWAR