Who Is This Guy – Mets by the Numbers

From Matt Galante with Love

All I gotta say is, it’s about frickin time.

You all know this by now. The Mets have been without a proper No. 8 for almost 25 years in anticipation of a ceremony so many desperately wanted but was never scheduled. I’ve said it often enough — Gary Carter doesn’t belong with those who’ve had their numbers retired by the Mets so let’s get No. 8 out there again. It’s no disrespect. It’s actually respect. Respect for the dignity of the franchise after it pretends to have had a history loaded with players so iconic and great and associated with the team and the city that they need to be honored in this way.

Well. let me say I like that Nick Morabito got No. 8 today. And it’s cool that AJ Ewing is wearing No. 9 when Brandon Nimmo is on the outskirts of what the Mets would now consider a retire-able uniform. Maybe something changed? Maybe they looked at themselves in the mirror. Maybe they realize that the best way forward isn’t to arrest the past in its tracks but set it free on the backs of the next generation. I love it I tell ya.

Oh shit, I just saw Matt’s comment below. They apparently “Torvee’d” this guy. Bullshit. Never mind

I’d like to take a second and welcome myself back, you almost lost me for good too but these young outfielder moves are exciting. Maybe they can give the next one 88 and say goodbye to the mistakes they shopped for over the offseason.

There’s nowhere to input the uni data anymore, unless someone out there wants to assemble a database that we can link here.

That’s the Ticket

Not that you’d necessarily want to, but you can’t buy a ticket to a Mets game this year. Well you can buy packages of 20 or 40 or 81 games, but the old-school a la cart single-game ticket window hasn’t opened yet, and they’re not saying when.

Speaking as someone accustomed to creating my own season ticket one game at a time, that’s unusual. Individual tickets went up for sale in the first week of December last year, and several years before that. The last time I can remember tickets going on sale this late in the year, they were playing at Shea Stadium, and we lined up by Gate D on a frigid Sunday morning. Tim Teufel was there to make it all worth it.

It’s almost as if they knew that surrendering their most popular players through trades and free agency was going to do something to demand, and now, they must hustle to make it up.

I like Bo Bichette and happy the Mets got him and not Tucker. Right handed hitter, a batting champion candidate, hits lots of doubles. I’m not entirely okay with yanking third base out from under Baty when he’d finally had a decent year, but he hits well enough to play left.

The Mets still need a pitcher. There are the top-shelf free agents like Framber Valdez but I kinda like the under-the-radar guys too. He struggled early last year with an injury but Zac Gallen has been pretty good for years. I’m also not afraid to bring in Justin Verlander or Max Scherzer again. I think the young staff could use the right veteran, a la Orel Hershiser in 1999. Besides I’ve never even heard of our pitching coach, Justin Willard. They don’t even have a mugshot of him on the official site.

As noted in the comments it will be interesting to see what number they issue to Bichette, having assigned his No. 11 already to a different incoming free agent, Jorge Polanco. I feel like the Mets are too deferential to numerical identities formed on other teams. Neither the Rangers nor Orioles nor Dodgers replicated the respective jersey numbers of Alonso, Nimmo and Diaz, though it seems like they let them pick (To be fair, Frank Robinson and Roy Campanella may have something to with it, but I digress–I’d be happy to see Bo Bichette take up something new).

Diaz by the way is tempting the baseball gods by choosing No. 3. All relievers stop being effective at some point.

Stick Out Your Tong

In a season without a lot of pleasant surprises you gotta be pleasantly surprised at how awesome Nolan McLean‘s been through three starts. Steve Cohen in fact has already decreed to retire No. 26 in a ceremony next season. But before that, we’re getting a potentially better young pitcher in Jonah Tong, whose motion recalls Tim Lincecum and who’ll be wearing No. 21.

I ran into friend of MBTN Dave the other night at CitiField and we agreed that of the available numbers (we went though them all), 21 was the best for Tong. That’s in part because it’s just a badass number, but also because it aligns with McLean’s 26 as a kind of new identifier of a rising Met rotation–sort of like when the 86ers took numbers in the teens or the accident of Matz, Harvey and Syndergaard occupying 32-34.

This may all be imaginary as young pitchers are notoriously unpredictable and too many guys now arrive wearing No. 73. But maybe we can find room for Brandon Sproat to take 29– sorry, Jared Young.

I count only six pitchers to wear 21 in Mets history, starting with Warren Spahn, then Bob Moorhead, Bill Pulsipher, Masato Yoshii, Bobby M. Jones and most recently, Rich Hill.

I’ve been meaning to take a moment and extend props to Starling Marte, who was forgotten while injured last year but is reminding us once again that he’s a very good player. I guess that also counts as a pleasant surprise of 2025.

Alert reader Chris Sullivan points out that Marte recently surpassed teammate/half-brother Jeff McNeil as the all-time leader in home runs by guys who wore No. 6 for the Mets. Marte sits at 36 dinger; McNeil was the previous leader at 34. As noted frequently in this space, that’s not necessarily saying much although McNeil and now Marte have brought new stability and skill to the jersey we haven’t seen since Wally Backman.

Dead Line

I can remember there being some real heat coming out of the trade deadline but despite what they did–and maybe because it it a little–I don’t detect a vibe for tonight’s game.

I suppose that’s mostly because the Padres kicked our asses all over the place in that series and it’s getting to be too often that the Mets just look bad out there. It’s hard to build off a fragile foundation like that.

Will 3 new relief pitchers and Cedric Mullins help? I hope so. I’m bigger on Cedric Mullins than his numbers would indicate. I think we need a better everyday guy than Tyrone Taylor in center. We did the same thing a year ago when we bailed on Harrison Bader. It was a small upgrade that helped the team get a lot better. Plus Taylor is a fine backup and gets that job again.

As our friend Jim reported in the comment section, Mullins will wear No. 28, belonging most recently to Jose Azocar (I think). Mullins was a 31 in Baltimore which is retired here.

New relievers Tyler Rogers will suit up in his customary 71 and Ryan Helsey will wear the same 56 he wore in St. Louis. Rogers I’m familiar with from his unique delivery (and his role on my fantasy team). But I’m not even going to pretend I know anything about Helsley who apparently is good but I wouldn’t know because I try not to pay any attention to the Cardinals.

Fun fact: Justin Garza and Zach Pop were the respective previous wearers of 71 and 56. Garza may as well be a St Louis Cardinal for all I remember about him.

For Who?

That’ll be a big question this deadline while the Mets work out some roster indigestion while the trade deadline approaches. I have no idea who they will trade for and for whom and I don’t have a particularly strong opinion other than, this is a better organization to trade from in a long while and so it seems they have the capital to get whoever it is they want.

The price for Gregory Soto looks light for now but you never know what might become of Wellington Arecena. The Mets suited up Soto in his customary 65 (33 would be better, no?), while moving Jeremy Hefner from 65 to 95, though the Hef never shows his uni anyway, I barely understand why we even keep track.

Soto’s arrival meant a DFA for big lefty Jose Castillo and his No. 54. Castillo had a day or two before replaced Chris Devenski, who refused his minor league assignment and became a free agent. He seemed good enough to maybe help somebody in a pennant race, or maybe the Braves. We also saw Alex Carillo (84) and Kevin Herget in there–Herget came all the way back from Atlanta and was able to reclaim No. 57 as Richard Lovelady was gone again.

Call to the Bullpen

They should stop with all this randomness and just assign relievers numbers in ascending order starting at say, 50. Had we done so, most recent Met Alex Carillo would be wearing 80 and and not 84, being the 30th guy to make a non-starting appearance in a Mets game this year (if I counted right).

Carillo survived a shaky inning and a third last night as the Mets did something they rarely do anymore and came from behind to defeat the Orioles in extra innings. Carillo will probably get cashed out today for his efforts if not already and we’ll move on to reliever No. 31, uniform No. 81.

Meantime I neglected to mention the Mets promoted bullpenner Rico Garcia the other day. A native Hawaiian, they were aware enough to assign the guy No. 50, joining Hawaiian-born Met luminaries Sid Fernandez and Benny Agbayani. Other Aloha State Mets (Ron Darling, Carlos Diaz, Jordan Yamamoto and Tyler Yates) went without 50.

Zach Pop has a classic name but between us looked like he didn’t even want to be out there in his lone Met appearance and was waived to make room for Carillo. Should have signed Zach Rock. That guy rocks.

Pop Star

It sure looked like we were never going to win another game after that Pittsburgh series. What would be the catalyst? It turns out, a few unexpectedly effective bullpen games and a few Brandon Nimmo grand slams.

The big wheel keeps on turning. Several retreads have made their way back, like Chris Devenski and Austin Warren. Tyler Zuber, whom I thought they saw something in, was DFAed, as was Colin “The Pooch” Poche, who I think may have resigned a minor-league deal. Then there’s newly arriving reliever Zach Pop, who deserves to hang around just because his name is Zach Pop (he should pitch to Coco Crisp). New York, London, Paris Munich–everybody talkin about Pop’s uni. It’s No. 56.

Prepare for reckless speculation from now till July 31 about the Mets’ appetite for starters and relivers, maybe some from here. I’m officially starting the Zac Gallen to the Mets rumor. He wears No. 23!

What’s the Difference?

I kinda liked Dicky Lovelady (57) in his maiden Met appearance–there wasn’t much else to like that night other than another Met debut for Frankie Montas–but Dicky was immediately designated for assignment after that Tuesday Night debacle so that Jonathan Pintaro could his place. I kinda liked Pintaro too even as he couldn’t close the door with a six-run lead he was right there with the rest of the bullpen, walking the first guy he saw. But I liked his wavy blonde hair, his gigantic butt and his short trunk.

Pintaro showed up rocking No. 91, but he’s gone too. In his place is Austin Warren, who I’d already forgotten was here already this year, and briefly conflated with Adam Warren, the former Yankees reliever. This guy’s different somehow. Wears No. 44.

Frankie Montas is in his customary 47. Hayden Senger in his customary 30.

Dick Move

As the Mets encounter the worst stretch of the year, the obligatory recycling of fringe pitchers has come for the lineup. Francisco Alvarez was sent to Syracuse yesterday and Luisangel Acuna joins him there today as the reeling Mets make more moves.

The headliner is Dicky Lovelady (that’s what he prefers to be called) a lefty reliever let loose by Minnesota. He’s apparently here and suiting up in No. 57, most recently belonging to Kevin Herget who was a Met for about 15 minutes in April. Does anyone remember the last Dicky to play for the Mets? That was Dicky Gonzalez (39) back in 2001. I was at his debut; I’m pretty sure he lost to the Astros.

And back 15 years ago, I wrote a series of articles on Mets named Dick. Real mature.

Also back with the Mets is Travis Jankowski, who takes Acuna’s place. Jankowski you’ll recall played for us in 2022, becoming the answer to the trivia question “Who was the last Met to wear No. 16 before Steve Cohen in a desperate attempt to make the Mets look more historically formidable retired it”?

So this marks Travis’s second stint in orange and blue; he’s since played for Texas, the White Sox and the Rays, who lost him to free agency earlier this month. Jankowski is listed in 21.

Also you may have seen the debut for Mets reliever Tyler Zuber (53) last night; he’s since been sent back to Syracuse along with Blade Tidwell (40). I’m pretty sure Justin Garza (71) also got sent down as Dedneil Nunez returned.

As for Alvarez, he’s been replaced by Heyden Senger who can probably hit singles with the same infrequency. Acuna gets everyday play that got harder to come by with Ronny Mauricio hanging around. Tyrone Taylor is also likely to take a playing time haircut with Jankowski here. Jankowski takes no haircuts of course.

Young Love

Wearing No. 29, batting lefthanded, tall guy with some power–it’s not Ike Davis (or Dave Magadan). It’s Jared Young! A journeyman slugger from Canada, Young suddenly appeared as the regular DH one day and hasn’t stopped playing since (at least against right handers). I will give earwitness testimony that his home run in Citi Field on Tuesday was the loudest shot in an inning full of loud shots. He hits the ball hard.

It’d be foolish to think Young is a sudden everyday big leaguer after a nine-year career with parts of all of them in minors (save for one season in Korea) but he’s the first real upside surprise of 2025, at least on the offensive side, and that’s a good thing when your team is dragging around Francisco Alvarez and Mark Vientos. He really reminds me a bit of MBTN favorite Kelvin Torve, also a lefty minor-league vet who got off to a hot start in Queens.

Elsewhere on the transaction front we’ve seen a shuffling of back-end relief workers. At the moment, Chris Devenski (49) is back up with the Mets and Brandon Waddell (82) is down. Waddell got smacked around by the White Sox the other day but leaves the Mets with a lone lefty in the bullpen. Genesis Cabrera (92) and Jose Azocar (28), cashiered for Waddell and Young, respectively, refused to participate in another go-round in Syracuse and found themselves new employers. Cabrera signed with the Cubs and Azocar is with the Braves.

The next big shakeup for the Mets could come when the pitchers start returning from the disabled list. Paul Blackburn is expected today.