2015 New York Mets season

The 2015 season was the 54th season in the history of the New York Mets. The Mets finished the regular season with a record of 90–72, winning the National League East title on September 26, their first division title since 2006 and sixth overall. They defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Division Series in five games and swept the Chicago Cubs in the National League Championship Series. They lost to the Kansas City Royals in five games in the 2015 World Series. It was the Mets' first appearance in the World Series since 2000 when they lost to the New York Yankees. It marked the team's first winning season since Citi Field opened in 2009 (and their first since 2008, their last season at Citi Field's predecessor, Shea Stadium).

2015 New York Mets
National League Champions
National League East Champions
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record90–72 (.556)
Divisional place1st
Other information
Owner(s)Fred Wilpon
General manager(s)Sandy Alderson
Manager(s)Terry Collins
Local televisionSportsNet New York
WPIX (CW affiliate)
(Gary Cohen, Ron Darling, Keith Hernandez)
Local radioWOR (English)
New York Mets Radio Network
(Howie Rose, Josh Lewin, Wayne Randazzo)
WQBU-FM (Spanish)
(Juan Alicea, Max Perez Jiminez)
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Offseason

On November 10, 2014, the Mets signed Michael Cuddyer to a two-year $21 million deal.[1] On December 2, 2014, the Mets officially non-tendered Eric Young Jr.[2] On December 11, 2014, the Mets agreed to a one-year contract with John Mayberry Jr.[3]

Spring training

During Spring training, the Mets made trades for relief pitchers Jerry Blevins from the Washington Nationals and Alex Torres from the San Diego Padres.[4][5]

Regular season

Opening Day
Opening Day Starters
NamePosition
Curtis GrandersonRF
David Wright3B
Lucas Duda1B
Michael CuddyerLF
Daniel Murphy2B
Juan LagaresCF
Travis d'ArnaudC
Wilmer FloresSS
Bartolo ColónP

On Opening Day, the Mets faced the Washington Nationals, whose starting pitcher Max Scherzer held the Mets hitless until the 6th inning. The Mets capitalized on two errors by Washington in the 6th inning: Ian Desmond committed a throwing error and Dan Uggla dropped a David Wright pop-up, and Lucas Duda finished off the rally with a two-run single into the right-center gap off a 98-MPH fastball from Scherzer. Mets starter Bartolo Colón allowed only a solo home run to Bryce Harper. After Colon left the game, Buddy Carlyle, filling in for an injured Jenrry Mejía, earned the save, giving the Mets a 3–1 victory.

April

After their opening series in Washington, former closer Jenrry Mejía was suspended 80 games for the use of stanozolol, a performance-enhancing drug (PED) banned by Major League Baseball. The Mets lost three of their first five games. After losing the first two in Atlanta to start their second series, the Mets began an 11-game win streak that started with Colón picking up his second win. The Mets then returned home, and swept the Philadelphia Phillies, Miami Marlins, and Atlanta Braves. On April 23, 2015 the New York Mets beat the Braves 6–3 to complete a perfect 10 game homestand, tying their start to the 1986 season with a 13–3 record and tying the team record with an 11-game winning streak. During the eighth game of the season, David Wright pulled his hamstring while stealing a base. He left the game and Anthony Recker was brought in to play third base. After a number of weeks, Wright was diagnosed with spinal stenosis, raising questions as to whether the captain could ever return.[6] During the 11 game winning streak, catcher Travis d'Arnaud was hit by a pitch, leading to a wrist injury. Kevin Plawecki was called up to replace d'Arnaud. In the same game, relief pitcher Jerry Blevins was hit by a line drive, breaking his arm. Their winning streak was broken in the first game of the Subway Series, where Jacob deGrom lost to Michael Pineda. The next day, in the second game of the series, Matt Harvey pitched 8.2 innings, but after giving up back-to-back hits, Harvey was taken out of the game. He would still get the victory. No Met would pitch a complete game until September. The Mets then lost the rubber match against the Yankees, their first appearance on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball since the 2013 season.

May

In May, the Nationals took the Division lead after taking three of four games from the Mets at Citi Field to start the month. Bartolo Colón saw his ERA increase to 4.80 at one point, effectively ending his All-Star chances. Noah Syndergaard was called up in mid-May and made his Major League debut on May 12 against the Chicago Cubs. He lost 6–1 in part of a four-game sweep by the Cubs at Wrigley Field. The Mets then returned home for a weekend series against the Milwaukee Brewers, winning two games to one. On Saturday, the Mets scored 14 runs, scoring 10 in the 4th inning, which included a grand slam hit by Wilmer Flores. Syndergaard picked up his first major league win on Sunday as the Mets won 5–1. In the following week, they split a four-game series with the Cardinals and were swept by the Pirates. While they started the final week of May by sweeping the Phillies, they closed the month by losing a series to the Marlins, ending May with a 28–23 record.

June

The Mets lost a series in San Diego and also split a series in Arizona. Returning home, they were no-hit by Chris Heston on June 9, which would turn out to be the first of two no-hitters thrown against the Mets in 2015. New York rebounded to win a weekend series against the Braves, and also snapped the Toronto Blue Jays' 11 game winning streak, which matched the Mets' 11-game streak as the longest winning streak of the year, by beating them on a walk-off hit by Wilmer Flores. After another win the following day, the Mets retook the division lead again. They then lost their next seven games in a row to fall back to under .500, at 36–37. Facing the Brewers, Jacob deGrom ended the losing streak by pitching 8 shutout innings to guide the Mets to a 2–0 victory and get them back to .500 returning home for a three-game set with the Cincinnati Reds.

On June 28, left-handed pitching prospect Steven Matz, a native of Stony Brook, New York and a lifelong Mets fan, made his Major League debut for the Mets against the Cincinnati Reds. He recorded four runs batted in (RBIs), breaking the Mets' franchise record for RBIs in a major league debut and setting an MLB record for most RBI by a pitcher in their debut. He went on to get the win in that game. Matz was the first pitcher from Long Island to make his MLB debut with the Mets since Ray Searage in 1981. With the win, the Mets swept the Reds to end June with a 40–38 record.

July

The Mets opened July by getting swept by the Chicago Cubs at Citi Field. In the three-game series, the Mets scored only one run. The team lost 6–1 on Thursday afternoon to drop to 40–40. After the game, local news pundits tore into the Wilpon's ownership of the team and GM Sandy Alderson not admitting there was a problem with the offense. Alderson then addressed the media and dubbed the reporters "residents of Panic City". Panic City became a popular term referring to Mets fans, especially on social media. After the sweep, the Mets went 4–2 on a road trip to the west coast in Los Angeles and San Francisco. They followed this with a sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks at Citi Field that brought the team's record to 47–42 heading into the 2015 All Star Break. In the final game of this series, Kirk Nieuwenhuis became the tenth Met to hit three home runs in one game, and the first player in Mets history to hit three home runs in one home game; the previous nine did so on the road.

On July 29, the Mets were involved in a bizarre series of events where it was reported through various social media outlets that Wilmer Flores had been traded, along with Zack Wheeler to the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for outfielder Carlos Gómez, as part of the Mets' desire to bring in an outfield bat. Word spread quickly around the stadium, and eventually to Flores, who took the field in the 8th inning crying and visibly emotional. After the game, general manager Sandy Alderson confirmed with the media that the trade had fallen through due to either medical concerns or disagreements on money, meaning Flores and Wheeler remained Mets. The next day, Flores was on the bench while the Mets tried to put the previous night behind them, leading the Padres 7–1 in the 7th inning. However, Derek Norris cut into the lead with a grand slam off Hansel Robles, but the newly acquired reliever Tyler Clippard sent the game into the 9th with the Mets retaining a 7–5 lead. Jeurys Familia came in to close the game, but with two outs and one strike on Norris, a heavy rainfall prompted the umpires to delay the game. After the delay, Norris blooped an 0–2 single to right field, Matt Kemp grounded a single to left field, and Justin Upton provided the final blow, homering to give the Padres an 8–7 lead, which would hold up.

Following the defeat, the Mets faced the Washington Nationals in a three-game series. The Nationals were three games ahead of the Mets, and a New York sweep could give the Mets the division lead. Prior to the first game, the Mets acquired outfielder Yoenis Céspedes, in a trade with the Tigers for minor league pitchers Michael Fulmer and Luis Cessa. That night, Flores hit a walk-off home run in the 12th inning, winning the game for the Mets by a score of 2–1. Flores had also driven in the other Mets run earlier in the game. It was also the only walk-off home run the Mets hit that season.

August

The Mets started August by sweeping the Washington Nationals and the Miami Marlins. They regained the lead in the NL East on August 3[7] and did not relinquish it for the rest of the season. On August 21, Céspedes became the 11th Met in franchise history and the third Met in 2015 to hit three home runs in a game when he did so against the Rockies.[8] This feat was achieved early in the season by Lucas Duda and Kirk Nieuwenhuis.

On August 24 against the Phillies, David Wright played in his first game since April 14, having missed over four months due to a hamstring injury and a career-threatening bout of spinal stenosis. Wright hit a home run into the second deck in his first at-bat; this would be the first of eight Met home runs in the game, setting a new franchise record in their 16–7 win. The Mets also hit 45 home runs in August, setting the club record for most home runs in a calendar month.

The Mets finished the month of August with a 20–8 record, their first month with at least 20 wins since September 2000.

September

The Mets swept a three-game series in Washington against the Nationals, coming from behind in each game to do so; this sweep increased their division lead, which they would not relinquish, to seven games, effectively ending the chances of a Nationals comeback.

On September 26, the Mets clinched the National League East Division regular season championship after defeating the Cincinnati Reds 10–2.

October

The Mets were the favorites to earn a home-field advantage over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Divisional Series, but finished 1–5 to end the season. This included being swept by the Phillies and dropping a series against the Nationals, which included a no-hitter thrown by Max Scherzer on October 3,[9] which was the second no-hitter thrown against the Mets all season. The next day, however, the Mets won 1–0. Jacob deGrom pitched 4 shutout innings and the Mets took a combined no-hitter into the 8th, but Clint Robinson singled off Jon Niese to end the no-hitter. Curtis Granderson then homered for the only run of the game, and Jeurys Familia earned his 43rd save of the year, tying a club record previously held by Armando Benitez, who recorded 43 saves in 2001.[10] The win also gave the Mets 90 victories, which Alderson had predicted of the team in 2014. The club ended the regular season with a record of 90–72, making it the first time since 2006 that the Mets won at least 90 games.

The Mets played the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2015 National League Division Series, winning in five games. Second baseman Daniel Murphy hit three home runs in the series. The Mets then swept the Chicago Cubs in the 2015 National League Championship Series. Murphy was named the NLCS Most Valuable Player, after he batted .529 in the series and homered in each of the 4 games, bringing his consecutive postseason game home run streak to six games, an MLB postseason record. Murphy homered a total of seven times in the two series. The Mets would lose in five games to the Kansas City Royals in the 2015 World Series. It was the first World Series to feature two expansion teams established after 1960. Game 5 was the first game in Mets franchise history to occur in the month of November.

Detailed record
TeamHomeAwayTotalWin %
NL East
Atlanta Braves6–35–511–8.579
Miami Marlins6–45–411–8.579
Philadelphia Phillies8–16–414–5.737
Washington Nationals5–56–311–8.579
25–1322–1647–29.618
NL Central
Chicago Cubs0–30–40–7.000
Cincinnati Reds3–04–07–01.000
Milwaukee Brewers2–11–23–3.500
Pittsburgh Pirates0–30–30–6.000
St. Louis Cardinals2–21–23–4.429
7–96–1113–20.394
NL West
Arizona Diamondbacks3–02–25–2.714
Colorado Rockies4–03–07–01.000
Los Angeles Dodgers2–22–14–3.571
San Diego Padres1–21–22–4.333
San Francisco Giants1–22–13–3.500
11–610–621–12.636
American League
Baltimore Orioles2–01–13–1.750
Boston Red Sox1–2N/A1–2.333
New York Yankees1–21–22–4.333
Tampa Bay RaysN/A1–21–2.333
Toronto Blue Jays2–00–22–2.500
6–43–79–11.450
Month Games Won Lost Win %
April23158.652
May281315.464
June271215.444
July251312.520
August28208.714
September271611.593
October413.250
Overall:1629072.556
Games Won Lost Win %
Home814932.605
Away814140.506
  • Most Runs Scored in a game: 16 (8/24 vs. PHI)
  • Most Runs Allowed in a game: 14 (9/1 vs. PHI)
  • Most Hits in a Game: 21 (7/25 vs. LAD)
  • Longest Winning Streak: 11 games (4/12–4/23) Ties franchise record
  • Longest Losing Streak: 7 games (6/17–6/24)

Season standings

National League East
NL East W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Mets 9072 0.556 — 49–32 41–40
Washington Nationals 8379 0.512 7 46–35 37–44
Miami Marlins 7191 0.438 19 41–40 30–51
Atlanta Braves 6795 0.414 23 42–39 25–56
Philadelphia Phillies 6399 0.389 27 37–44 26–55

National League Division Leaders
Division Leaders W L Pct.
St. Louis Cardinals 10062 0.617
Los Angeles Dodgers 9270 0.568
New York Mets 9072 0.556


Wild Card teams
(Top two qualify for postseason)		 W L Pct. GB
Pittsburgh Pirates 9864 0.605 +1
Chicago Cubs 9765 0.599 —
San Francisco Giants 8478 0.519 13
Washington Nationals 8379 0.512 14
Arizona Diamondbacks 7983 0.488 18
San Diego Padres 7488 0.457 23
Miami Marlins 7191 0.438 26
Milwaukee Brewers 6894 0.420 29
Colorado Rockies 6894 0.420 29
Atlanta Braves 6795 0.414 30
Cincinnati Reds 6498 0.395 33
Philadelphia Phillies 6399 0.389 34

Record vs. opponents
2015 National League Records

Source: NL Standings Head-to-Head
Team ARI ATL CHC CIN COL LAD MIA MIL NYM PHI PIT SD SF STL WSH AL
Arizona —3–32–46–113–66–135–25–22–52–41–59–1011–80–73–411–9
Atlanta 3–3—1–63–41–63–310–95–28–1111–82–42–53–44–25–146–14
Chicago 4–26–1—13–64–23–43–314–57–02–511–83–35–28–114–310–10
Cincinnati 1–64–36–13—2–41–63–49–100–74–211–82–42–57–125–17–13
Colorado 6–136–12–44–2—8–112–55–10–75–21–67–1211–83–43–35–15
Los Angeles 13–63–34–36–111–8—4–24–33–45–21–514–58–112–54–210–10
Miami 2–59–103–34–35–22–4—4–28–119–101–62–55–21–59–107–13
Milwaukee 2–52–55–1410–91–53–42–4—3–37–010–95–21–56–133–48–12
New York 5–211–80–77–07–04–311–83–3—14–50–62–43–33–411–89–11
Philadelphia 4–28–115–22–42–52–510–90–75–14—2–55–11–52–57–128–12
Pittsburgh 5–14–28–118–116–15–16–19–106–05–2—5–26–19–103–413–7
San Diego 10–95–23–34–212–75–145–22–54–21–52–5—8–114–32–57–13
San Francisco 8–114–32–55–28–1111–82–55–13–35–11–611–8—2–44–313–7
St. Louis 7–02–411–812–74–35–25–113–64–35–210–93–44–2—4–211–9
Washington 4–314–53–41–53–32–410–94–38–1112–74–35–23–42–4—8–12

Game log

Regular season
Legend
Mets Win Mets Loss Game Postponed
Bold = Mets team member
2015 Game Log
Overall: 90–72 (Home: 49–32; Away: 41–40)

Postseason
2015 New York Mets Postseason (8–6)

Roster
2015 New York Mets
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats

Regular season

Players bolded are presently on Mets active roster.
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases; BB = Base on balls; K = Strike Outs; AVG = Batting average

Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB K AVG
Carlos Torres5611100000001.000
Sean Gilmartin486120000003.333
David Wright3815224447051722236.289
Yoenis Cespedes572303966144174441454.287
Steven Matz614141005001.286
Daniel Murphy13049956140382147323138.281
Michael Conforto56174304714092601739.270
Travis d'Arnaud672393164141124102349.268
Wilmer Flores13748357122220165901963.263
Rubén Tejada116360369423032823870.259
Curtis Granderson1575809815033226701191151.259
Michael Cuddyer1173794498181104122488.259
Juan Lagares1434414711416564171687.259
Kelly Johnson4912818326051311038.250
Lucas Duda135471671153302773066138.244
Kevin Plawecki7323318519032101760.219
Juan Uribe4412817289062001434.219
Dilson Herrera3190719313621123.211
Noah Syndergaard22432910140126.209
Kirk Nieuwenhuis641071722904132840.208
Darrell Ceciliani396851420135425.208
Eric Campbell7117328348031952637.197
Jacob deGrom285931110040316.186
Jon Niese31525910040518.173
Johnny Monell27485820040413.167
John Mayberry, Jr.5911081861391933.164
Danny Muno17272410001411.148
Bartolo Colón31582810040024.138
Anthony Recker3280610102511135.125
Matt Harvey28651720170031.108
Dillon Gee810010000005.100
Eric Young, Jr.188900000301.000
Logan Verrett127000000002.000
Rafael Montero52000000001.000
Tyler Clippard291000000000.000
Erik Goeddel331000000000.000
Alex Torres371000000000.000

Postseason

Players bolded are presently on Mets active roster.
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases; BB = Base on balls; K = Strike Outs; AVG = Batting average

Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB K AVG
Juan Lagares711552000111.455
Daniel Murphy8339121069116.364
Curtis Granderson828392007354.321
Yoenis Cespedes8335910271010.273
Wilmer Flores720252000026.250
Travis d'Arnaud8304600250012.200
Kelly Johnson55010000003.200
David Wright8274520131711.185
Michael Cuddyer47010000013.143
Lucas Duda8241300010213.125
Michael Conforto613110012014.077
Jacob deGrom37000000001.000
Rubén Tejada25100000015.000
Noah Syndergaard34000000002.000
Matt Harvey24000000002.000
Jeurys Familia71000000001.000
Steven Matz11000000000.000

Pitching

Players bolded are currently on the Mets active roster.
Note: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits; R = Runs; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts; ERA = Earned run average;

Player G GS W L SV IP H R ER BB K ERA
Jenrry Mejía701007.1400270.00
Jerry Blevins701005.0000040.00
Addison Reed17011115.111225171.17
Jeurys Familia76022437859161619861.85
Steven Matz6640035.2349910342.27
Jack Leathersich17000011.21233012.31
Erik Goeddel35011033.124999342.43
Jacob deGrom30301480191.01495954382052.54
Sean Gilmartin50132057.150171718542.67
Matt Harvey29291380189.11566257371882.71
Logan Verrett14411138.223131311363.03
Tyler Clippard32041232.124131110263.06
Alex Torres39000139.026161226353.15
Noah Syndergaard2424970150.01266054311663.24
Hansel Robles57043054.037272218613.67
Jon Niese33299100176.21929381551134.13
Bartolo Colón333114130194.22179490241364.16
Rafael Montero5101010.09655134.50
Carlos Torres59056057.261323018484.68
Buddy Carlyle1101018.0855065.63
Dillon Gee8703039.255292611255.90
Bobby Parnell30024124.030201717136.38
Tim Stauffer500005.2855287.94
Darío Álvarez601003.25551212.27
Eric O'Flaherty1600008.21813135613.50
Akeel Morris100000.23553067.50

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Las Vegas 51s Pacific Coast League Wally Backman
AA Binghamton Rumble Ponies Eastern League Pedro López
A-Advanced St. Lucie Mets Florida State League Luis Rojas
A Savannah Sand Gnats South Atlantic League José Leger
A-Short Season Brooklyn Cyclones New York–Penn League Tom Gamboa
Rookie Kingsport Mets Appalachian League Luis Rivera
Rookie GCL Mets Gulf Coast League José Carreño
Rookie DSL Mets 1 & 2 Dominican Summer League Manny Martínez
David Davalillo

References
  1. Rubin, Adam (November 10, 2014). "Michael Cuddyer signs with Mets". ESPN. Retrieved March 6, 2015.
  2. Vorkunov, Mike (December 2, 2014). "Mets non-tender Eric Young Jr., tender contracts to 6 other arbitration eligible players". NJ.com. Retrieved March 6, 2015.
  3. Rohan, Tim (December 11, 2014). "Versatile Hitter Is Set to Join Mets". New York Times. Retrieved March 6, 2015.
  4. "Mets Acquire Jerry Blevins". MLB Trade Rumors. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
  5. "Mets Acquire Alex Torres". MLB Trade Rumors. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
  6. "David Wright's latest setback raises these disturbing questions". May 24, 2015.
  7. "Mets take over sole possession of first place". Major League Baseball. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
  8. "Yoenis Céspedes hits three home runs for Mets". Major League Baseball. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
  9. "Scherzer logs 2nd no-hitter of year, K's 17 Mets". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
  10. "Jeurys Familia grabs share of franchise saves record on final day of season". ESPN.com. October 4, 2015. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
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