R.A. Dickey Wins NL Cy Young

R.A. Dickey became the first knuckleballer ever to win the Cy Young Award. Dickey became the Mets first 20-game winner in over 20 years, and he became the Mets fifth Cy Young winner. Dickey is 38, and had a 41-50 career record before going 20-6 this year. Dickey led the NL in strikeouts, and was second in the NL in ERA. There is question whether Dickey will be traded, but Dickey has made it clear that he wants to stay with the Mets.

5 Reasons Why Dickey Should Win Cy Young

These are 5 reasons why R.A. Dickey should win the Cy Young award:

1. The Stats - Dickey had 230 K's this season, which led the NL. He also recorded 20 wins, and had a  2.73 ERA, which ranked second in the NL.

2. The Team - The Mets offense ranked 25th in the MLB this year. It takes a lot of skill to win 20 games            on a team that has a bad offense.

3. The Knuckleball -  There are not too many knuckleballers in the MLB. A knuckleball is a very hard pitch to aim. Dickey only allowed 54 walks this season, which is unbelievable for a knuckleballer.

4. The Story - Dickey has an amazing life story. He had a very difficult childhood, and had was a horrible pitcher in his first few seasons. In 2009, when Dickey was 34, it looked like Dickey's career  was about to come to an end. In 2010, the Mets signed him to a minor league contract, and since then, Dickey has been amazing.

5. The Competition - The three most likely pitchers to win the NL Cy Young are Dickey,Clayton   Kershaw, and Gio Gonzalez. Gonzalez led the MLB with 21 wins, but he got a lot more run support than   Dickey. Kershaw also got more run support than Dickey, and he had less wins and a higher ERA.

                             

                                     

                              

                         

Mets End Season With 74-88 Record

The Mets beat the Marlins 4-2 today, in the last game of their season. Although the Mets had a losing record this year for the 4th consecutive season, they made a lot of history this year. David Wright set the record for the most hits in franchise history, Johan Santana became the first Met ever to throw a no-hitter, and R.A. Dickey became the first Met ever to pitch consecutive 1-hitters.

The Mets two biggest off-season targets are David Wright and R.A. Dickey. Wright has one year remaining on his contract, but the question is whether the Mets will sign him to an extension, or if they will trade him. R.A. Dickey is a free agent this year, and he will be very expensive. This should be an interesting off-season for the Mets.

Mets Shut Down Santana For the Season

After his start on Friday night, Johan Santana felt discomfort in his lower back. Santana then went for an MRI on his lowe back, which showed inflammation in his lower back. The Mets then decided to shut him down for the remainder of the season.

This has been an up and down season for Johan Santana. On June 1st, Santana thew the first no-hitter in Mets history, but after that, he has struggled. Johan is 3-7 with a 8.27 ERA since the no-hitter. Although Santana became the first Met ever to throw a no-hitter, he also became the first Mets ever to allow six or more runs in five consecutive starts. The Mets are confident that they'll have Santana back for the begining of the 2013 season. Collin McHugh was called up from triple-A to replace Santana for the remainder of the season.

Jon Niese Struggles In Loss To Marlins

Last night, the Mets lost to the Marlins 4-2, and all of the Marlins' runs came in the 4th inning off Jon Niese. In the 4th inning, Jose Reyes reached on an infield single, as he extended hos hitting streak to 25 games. In the bottom of the 5th inning, the score was 4-2, and the Mets left Jon Niese to bat with the bases loaded and two outs. Niese ended up striking out looking to end the inning. They should have called up a pinch hitter, because they were a hit away from tying the game.

After the game, Terry Collins said: "Early in the game I thought we had a lot more at bats coming up and I already had burned Ike Davis. We were down a guy with Rob Johnson questionable, and Jon Niese swings the bat as good as anyone else in our staff. So I thought we could get a few more innings out of him, and it didn't work." After last night's loss, the Mets are 14 games behind the 1st place Nationals, and they're 9.5 games behind the Braves, who lead the wild cart.

Mets Need To Improve In August

This July has not been a month to remember for the Mets. In July, the Mets were 7-17, and since the all-star break, the Mets were 4-13. The Mets started off July with a 43-36 record, and they ended July with a 50-53 record. 

If the Mets don't improve in August, they won't have a chance in making the playoffs. The only problem is that in the past few years, the Mets have played really poorly in August. The last time the Mets had a winning record in August was in 2008. Since then, the Mets are 32-51 in August, and neither Santana, Dickey or Niese have had a winning record in August. This is a very crucial August for the Mets, if they want a chance in making the playoffs.

Matt Harvey Makes MLB Debut Tonight

The Mets called up Matt Harvey last week from the minors, to fill in the role of Dillon Gee and Johan Santana, who both are currently on the DL. The Mets could really use a good start from Harvey, because the Mets are 1-11 since the all-star break. Dillon Gee got arm surgery last week, and he is likely to miss the remainder of the season, and Johan is out for a few weeks, due to an ankle sprain. This year, Harvey is 7-5, with a 3.68 ERA, while playing for the Buffalo Bisons. Matt Harvey is going up against Wade Miley tonight, in the first game of a four game series against the D'Backs.

Mets Place Frank Fransisco On The 15-Day DL

Two days after Mets closer Frank Fransisco called the Yankees "chickens", he was placed on the 50-day DL. Fransisco joked on Friday by calling the Yankees "chickens, and on Friday night, he picked up his 18th save of the season in the Mets 6-4 win over the Yankees.

Losing Fransisco is big a big loss for the Mets, because the Mets bullpen has been struggling this year, and Fransisco has been pitching well. So the Mets will try win a rubber game vs the Yankees without closer Frank Fransisco.

Mets vs Yankees Preview

After sweeping the Orioles, the Mets get set for another series vs the Yankees, but this time it's at Citi Field. The last time the Mets played the Yankees was two weeks ago at Yankee Stadium, where the Yankees swept the Mets. Tonight's pitching probables are Andy Pettitte and Jon Niese, tomorrow's probables are Ivan Nova and Chris young, and Sunday's probables are C.C Sabathia and R.A Dickey. The Mets are currently 38-32, and they are 3.5 games behind the Nationals, and the Yankees are 41-27, they are in first place, and they are 2.5 games in front of the Orioles.

R.A Dickey Pitches His Second Consecutive 1-Hitter

Last night, R.A Dickey threw his second 1-hitter in a row. He became the the first pitcher to throw consecutive 1-hitters since 1988. Dickey now leads the NL in wins, ERA, and strikeouts. Also, in the month of June, Dickey has not allowed any earned runs. Dickey will look to continue his hot streak on Sunday against the Yankees.

Mets Already Have Many Injuries

Over the last two years, one of the Mets biggest problems were injuries. Almost half of the Mets starting lineup got injured last year. These players include David Wright, Daniel Murphy, and Ike Davis, who were all playing well before they got injured. The Mets have also been without their ace Johan Santana the whole season. Now the Mets are less than three weeks into spring training, and they already have many injuries.

David Wright hurt his rib cage while taking batting practice last week, and he has not played in a spring training game yet this year. Wright flew back to New York yesterday to get examined, and today he got a cortisone shot. The Mets don't know yet when Wright will be able to return.

A few hours after the Mets announced that Wright will get a cortisone shot, they announced that Tim Byrdak will undergo surgery on his meniscus cartilage on his left knee, and he will begin the season on the DL. Sandy Alderson said that Byrdak is expected to miss about six weeks.

Ike Davis has valley fever, but doesn't affect his playing, and Johan Santana is still recovering from his surgery about a year and a half ago. Johan Santana will start for the Mets on opening day, but he's probably not going to be as good as he used to be. Injuries have been a big reason why the Mets have been a bad team over the last few years, and the Mets will probably be bad this year, if they keep getting injured.

Are Mets Underrated This Year?

With all that is going on with the Wilpons, and losing Jose Reyes, everyone thinks that the Mets have a horrible team, and will have a horrible season. Are the Mets really that bad?

The Mets moved in the walls of Citi Field, which is great for players like David Wright and Jason Bay, who are power hitters that don't hit a lot of home runs at Citi Field. You could tell by the stats. David Wright hit 33 home runs in 2008, when the Mets played at Shea Stadium, the next year, when the Mets moved to Citi Field, he hit 10 homers. Jason Bay hit 36 home runs in 2009 in Fenway Park with the Red Sox. The next year he hit 6 homers with the Mets in Citi Field.

Also, they don't have a bad lineup. Players like David Wright, Andres Torres, Jason Bay, and Ike Davis, are solid hitters. Johan Santana may not be ready for opening day, but when he returns, he could make a big impact. The rest of the rotation is not so good, but they got a few good relievers Angel Pagan trade, which also involved Andres Torres. The Mets are probably not going to make the playoffs, but I don't think that they're going to be that bad.