Time Traveler Tuesdays : Mets Pitchers in the 2010s: The Young Guns Who Almost Won it All

The 2010s Mets pitchers were full of huge names, and maybe one of the best pitchers to ever take the mound.

The team provided the NL with three out of the 10 Cy Young Award winners that decade as well.

Young studs, playoff dominance, and a World Series moment Mets fans would rather not talk about.

The story began with Dickey’s floating knuckleball and Santana’s historic no-hitter. It accelerated with the arrival of Harvey, deGrom, Syndergaard and Wheeler, the power arms who transformed the Mets from hopefuls into National League champions. And it ended with deGrom winning consecutive Cy Young Awards, establishing himself as the clear standard by which every other Mets pitcher of the decade must be measured.

1. Jacob deGrom: The unquestioned ace

There is no serious argument for anyone else at No. 1 on the Mets in the 2010s. You could even argue he was the best pitcher in the entire league.

DeGrom led Mets pitchers in innings, ERA, WHIP, strikeouts and strikeouts per nine innings in the 2010s. He accumulated 1,255 strikeouts in 1,101⅔ innings, allowing barely more than one baserunner per inning while producing a 2.62 ERA.

The statistics are remarkable enough. The manner in which deGrom compiled them made him feel almost detached from the normal conditions of Mets baseball. Weak run support, narrow margins and modest win totals could not conceal what was happening every fifth day.

His 2018 season remains the decade’s masterpiece: 217 innings, 269 strikeouts and a 1.70 ERA. He received 29 of 30 first-place votes for the Cy Young Award. One year later, he won it again, becoming the 20th pitcher in major-league history to earn multiple Cy Youngs and the first Met to win in consecutive seasons.

2. Noah Syndergaard: Thor's Hammer Dominates

Syndergaard’s fastball created the mythology, but his command and secondary pitches created the results.

Across five Mets seasons, he went 47–30 with a 3.31 ERA, striking out 775 batters in 716 innings. His 9.74 strikeouts per nine trailed only deGrom among the starters on this list, while his 1.16 WHIP nearly matched Dickey’s.

The clearest expression of Syndergaard’s ability came in 2016. He finished 14–9 with a 2.60 ERA and 218 strikeouts, leading the majors with a 2.29 FIP. He followed that regular season by throwing seven scoreless innings against San Francisco in the Wild Card Game, permitting two hits and striking out 10.

Injuries prevented Syndergaard from supplying deGrom’s volume. At his best, however, no other Mets pitcher of the decade combined velocity, intimidation and postseason poise quite like him. 3. R.A. Dickey: The improbable Cy Young winner

Dickey’s Mets tenure lasted only three seasons, but almost every inning counted. Dickey's accomplishments are even more impressive, considering he racked up all his stats and awards with a knuckleball.

He recorded a 2.95 ERA and 1.15 WHIP in 616⅔ innings, pitching deep into games in a period when the franchise desperately needed stability. Then came 2012, when an unpredictable career became an unforgettable season.

Dickey went 20–6 with a 2.73 ERA, led the National League with 230 strikeouts and 233⅔ innings, and completed five games. He won the NL Cy Young Award with 27 first-place votes, joining Tom Seaver and Dwight Gooden as the only Mets pitchers at that time to receive the honor.

DeGrom ultimately surpassed him, but Dickey was the decade’s first great Mets ace—and perhaps its most unlikely.

4. Matt Harvey: The brightest, briefest peak

Harvey’s cumulative 3.66 ERA does not adequately describe his place in the decade. His ranking is built around the force of his peak and the atmosphere he created.

In 2013, Harvey went 9–5 with a 2.27 ERA, recording 191 strikeouts against only 31 walks in 178⅓ innings. He finished fourth in Cy Young voting and started the All-Star Game at Citi Field. His starts became events, giving a rebuilding team the sensation that something larger was approaching.

After Tommy John surgery erased his 2014 season, Harvey returned to help the Mets win the 2015 National League pennant. He made four postseason starts that year, pitching 26⅔ innings with a 3.04 ERA and 27 strikeouts.

In the 2015 World Series, Harvey will be remembered for a moment where Manager Terry Collins was going to pull him after eight strong innings. Harvey heard the news from the bench coach, and immediately marched over to Collins and said "no way." Collins infamously left him in the game and the Kansas City Royals would end up winning the game and beating the Mets 4 games to 1 to close out the series at Citi Field.

The decline was steep, and it lowered his decade totals. But few Mets pitchers have ever burned as brightly as Harvey did from his arrival through the 2015 World Series.

Harvey's heart represented the 2010s Mets pitchers. Lots of moxey for all of them. A 2010s pitching moment no Mets fan will ever forget is June 1, 2012, when Johan Santana pitched the team's only (one-pitcher) no-hitter in franchise history.

Young guns, Cy Youngs, grit, and determination will be how the 2010s Mets pitchers will always be remembered.

In 2015, those arms nearly cemented themselves as the best pitching staff in Mets history. Despite falling short, they still showed comic book character bravery when they were put to the test.