THE Rankings: Top 5 Mets Starting Pitchers

With all of the Mets position players done, it is time now to turn to pitchers. I’ll begin with the starters. Gee, I can’t imagine who will be number one…

1) Tom Seaver (1967-1977, 1983)

Seaver leads the franchise in all pitching categories. He won three Cy Young Awards, Rookie of the Year, made nine All-Star teams and won 20 games four times. I’m still trying to figure out how they lost him again after reacquiring him.

2) Dwight Gooden (1984-1994)

Gooden won Rookie of the Year and the Cy Young in his first two seasons and it looked like Gooden would some day surpass Seaver as the team’s top pitcher. Alas, his career derailed. Still though, he is second in wins and third in strikeouts in franchise history.

3) Jerry Koosman (1967-1978)

Koosman was underrated. He almost won Rookie of the Year and a Cy Young Award. He is second in strikeouts and third in wins in Mets history. Koosman excelled in the 1969 and 1973 World Series, going a combined 3-0 with a 2.39 ERA in four starts.

4) David Cone (1987-1992, 2003)

Cone went 20-3 with a 2.22 ERA in 1988 and was dominant during his years in Flushing. He struck out at least 200 batters five times as a Met, leading the league twice.

5) Sid Fernandez (1984-1993)

This slot could have either gone to Fernandez, Ron Darling or Al Leiter, who had nearly identical Mets career numbers. I went with Fernandez because he had a lower ERA than the other two. Plus, while Darling and Leiter were more consistent, when Fernandez was on, he was sensational.

To see more rankings in this series, click here.

Mug Shots courtesy Ultimate Mets Database