The regular season is long and things can change dramatically over the course of 162 games. A new month is a good opportunity to not only flip the calendar and start fresh but also look back at what we learned about the New York Mets over the past 30 or 31 days.
As a new month begins, this space will honor the most productive player for the Mets in the past calendar month of play. The Mets went 15-14 over their first 29 games, a span that includes three games in March, and it was largely a balanced effort. While Pete Alonso paced the team in power with eight home runs, plenty of supporting players stepped up in the lineup like Starling Marte (.288 batting average/4 HR/12 RBI), Harrison Bader (.277/1/7) and Tyrone Taylor (.277/2/13).
The pitching did carry the day for the Mets as Luis Severino (2-2, 2.31 ERA in six starts) showcased vintage form while the bullpen got great efforts from Edwin Diaz (4 saves and a 2.53 ERA in 11 appearances), Jorge Lopez (2 saves and a 1.88 ERA in 14 appearances), Adam Ottavino (1-0, 1.69 ERA in four appearances) and Brooks Raley (1-0 with a 0.00 ERA in eight appearances). While any of the aforementioned players could claim Met of the Month honors, the clear choice has to be fellow reliever Reed Garrett.
No one expected much from Garrett, who the Mets claimed off waivers from the Baltimore Orioles last season and spent most of the offseason in jeopardy of being designated for assignment to make room for a new roster move. President of Baseball Operations David Stearns opted to hold onto Garrett thanks to his minor league option, which earned him a ticket to Syracuse on Opening Day to allow the Mets to carry Yohan Ramirez and Michael Tonkin, who were out of options.
An injury to Tylor Megill created an opportunity for the Mets to add Garrett to their bullpen and he has seized his chance to make a mark. Garrett picked up five relief wins for the Mets, becoming the first Mets' reliever to win five games in a calendar month since Jesse Orosco. The Mets used Garrett in a variety of roles from multi-inning reliever to setup man to off-day closer for Edwin Diaz and he handled them all with ridiculous ease, pitching to a 0.57 ERA in 15.2 innings pitched and striking out 28 batters in the process, punching out an absurd 45.9% of hitters to face him.
Our own Mark Rosenman had a chance to speak with Garrett prior to the start of the current homestand. Check out what Garrett had to say about his early success below.
The Mets' bullpen has been a big strength in the early going, which is a good sign since Stearns has a strong reputation for putting together a quality relief corps from his time in Milwaukee. The emergence of someone like Garrett is something the Mets haven't had very often and he has turned into a legitimate weapon for Carlos Mendoza to use. Garrett is a big reason why the Mets have weathered a tough schedule and are above water, making him the choice for the first Met of the Month for 2024.
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