Sunday School: Forgotten Faces of Flushing #82: Tyler Naquin: Every July, We Fall in Love Again

Last week, we looked back at Dyar Miller, the pitcher who refused to let baseball tell him his dream was over. Released as a catcher, he reinvented himself on the mound, spent seven seasons in the major leagues, and remained in professional baseball for decades afterward. His story reminded us that perseverance can sometimes be as valuable as talent.

This week, we're moving from perseverance...to optimism.

More specifically, trade deadline optimism.

If you're a Mets fan, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

Every July, it happens. The Mets make a trade, and within minutes we've convinced ourselves they've just landed the missing piece. It doesn't matter if the player is an All-Star, a platoon outfielder, or a relief pitcher whose mother has to check Baseball Reference to remember what team he's on. If he's wearing a Mets cap by dinner, somebody on social media has already declared him the greatest deadline acquisition since Mike Piazza.

That's just what we do.

Then, a couple of years later, you're watching an old Mets highlight, someone steps into the batter's box, and you blurt out, "Wait a minute...Tyler Naquin was a Met?"

Yes. Yes, he was.

And for a few months during the magical 2022 season, Mets fans were convinced he might be exactly what the club needed.

Let's be fair to Tyler Naquin. When Billy Eppler acquired him from the Cincinnati Reds just before the 2022 trade deadline, nobody expected him to become the next Darryl Strawberry. The Mets weren't looking for a superstar. They were looking for depth, another left-handed bat, and a veteran who had proven he could contribute in the big leagues.

On paper, it made perfect sense.

Naquin had been a first-round draft pick out of Texas A&M and arrived in the majors with Cleveland carrying plenty of promise. His rookie season in 2016 was outstanding. He hit .296 with 14 home runs, finished third in the American League Rookie of the Year voting, and even helped the Indians reach the World Series. Injuries interrupted what looked like a budding star's career, but he rebuilt his value in Cincinnati, where he slugged 19 home runs and drove in 70 runs in 2021.

The Mets hoped they were getting that version of Tyler Naquin.

Sometimes baseball has other plans.

Naquin appeared in 49 games after arriving in Queens, batting .203 with four home runs and 13 RBIs. He had his moments, launching a few timely home runs and giving Buck Showalter another versatile option in the outfield, but he never found the consistency that had made him such an attractive deadline target.

https://youtu.be/dlxU5YRwenE?si=S5CYdb3viaXntWi9

To be fair, deadline acquisitions aren't easy. One day you're unpacking in Cincinnati. The next you're joining a clubhouse with World Series expectations, learning new teammates, new coaches, new signs, and trying to produce immediately while 40,000 people wonder why you haven't hit a three-run homer yet.

No pressure.

By the end of the season, Naquin's time in New York was over. Like so many deadline pickups before him, he packed his bags, moved on to the next chapter of his career, and quietly slipped into that part of Mets history reserved for players fans remember...eventually.

Ironically, Naquin's baseball story didn't end when he took off a Mets uniform. In fact, it took a turn that nobody—not even the most creative Hollywood screenwriter—could have predicted.

Most former major league outfielders retire and spend their summers perfecting their golf swing, coaching Little League, or telling anyone who'll listen about the home run they hit back in 2021. Tyler Naquin looked at all that and said, "Nah...I think I'll become a pitcher."

In 2025, he returned to the Cleveland organization—the same franchise where his major league career had begun—but this time he signed as a pitcher. It was baseball's version of a Broadway actor deciding to become the orchestra conductor. Different job. Same stage.

Split between Cleveland's Arizona Complex League club and High-A Lake County, Naquin made 27 relief appearances, posted a 3-0 record, struck out 20 hitters in just over 30 innings, and continued proving that reinvention isn't just a business buzzword—it's a baseball survival skill. The earned run average wasn't going to earn him a Cy Young Award, but that's almost beside the point.

Think about what he was attempting.

It's hard enough to reach the major leagues once.

Trying to get back there after changing positions in your mid-30s is the kind of plot twist Hollywood usually rejects because audiences would never believe it.

Yet there was Tyler Naquin, chasing another baseball dream, reminding us that sometimes the game has one more chapter left to write.

That's why Tyler Naquin belongs in Forgotten Faces of Flushing.

Not because he was a Mets star.

Not because he changed franchise history.

But because every July, there's another Tyler Naquin. A good player arrives carrying the hopes of an entire fan base. We convince ourselves he's the answer. We cheer every at-bat, dissect every swing, and imagine how he'll help write the next great October chapter.

Sometimes he does.

Most of the time, he becomes a wonderful little footnote in Mets history.

And years later, when his name pops up in a trivia question or an old box score, we smile, shake our heads, and say, "Oh yeah...I forgot he was a Met."

That's exactly why we remember him today.