2010 New York Mets season


The New York Mets' 2010 season was the franchise's 49th season and their second at Citi Field. The team was attempting to rebound from the injury plagued 2009 season as they sought their first postseason appearance since 2006. However, they failed in their goal, earning a 79-83 record and second consecutive fourth-place finish in the NL East, leading to the firing of manager Jerry Manuel and the dismissal of general manager Omar Minaya at the conclusion of the season.

Offseason

On November 6, 2009, the Mets declined to exercise relief pitcher J. J. Putz's 2010 team option, who subsequently signed with the Chicago White Sox. Catcher Brian Schneider and shortstop Wilson Valdez signed contracts to the Philadelphia Phillies. Nelson Figueroa would also later join the Phillies on Opening Day upon being acquired off waivers from the Mets. On November 30, 2009, the Mets re-signed Alex Cora to an identical one year $2 million deal. They also signed former San Diego Padre catcher Henry Blanco and former Astro Chris Coste. In December 2009, the Mets signed pitchers Ryota Igarashi and Kelvim Escobar.
On December 29, the Mets signed outfielder Jason Bay to a four-year $65 million deal. On January 5, 2010, the Mets signed R.A. Dickey to a minor league contract. On January 13, 2010, Carlos Beltrán underwent knee surgery, and did not return until after the All-Star break. On January 22, 2010, The Mets acquired outfielder Gary Matthews, Jr. along with 21 million of the 23.5 million he was due of the last two years of his contract from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in exchange for relief pitcher Brian Stokes.
The Mets signed right-handed pitcher Josh Fogg to a minor league deal on January 29, 2010, extending him an invitation to Spring training. The Mets also re-signed former member Mike Jacobs to a minor league deal and invited him to Spring training. The Mets also continued this offseason's trend of signing catchers by finalizing a deal with catcher Rod Barajas. The Mets later invited Raúl Valdés to spring training during March. He'd eventually make it on the roster in early April after Sean Green was placed on the disabled list.
On March 11, 2010, the Mets announced that starting shortstop José Reyes would miss 2–8 weeks after being diagnosed with a hyperthyroid problem, but on March 24, the Mets announced that he would return for camp that same day and would be ready for the first weekend series vs the Washington Nationals.

Regular season

April

The Mets opened their season at home with a 7-1 victory over the Florida Marlins. After a shaky 4-8 start and questions surrounding the lineup, they called up highly touted prospect Ike Davis. The call-up and the surprising emergence of starting pitcher Mike Pelfrey who ended the month 4-0, with a NL leading 0.69 ERA along with the rest of the pitching staff, resulted in positive momentum for the Mets. They went 9-1 on a ten-game homestand, having done that twice in their history. They finished the homestand with an overall record of 13-9 and leading the NL East by a ½ game over the Phillies. The Mets wrapped up the month with a 9-1 win over the Phillies, giving them a 14-9 record and a 1½ game lead in the East.

May

The Mets followed their successful April by slumping to a 12-17 finish in May. However, after starting the month 6-14, the team's fortunes appeared to turn around beginning with a 5-3 victory over their crosstown rivals, the New York Yankees, on May 22. The Mets went on to win their three-game series against the Yankees, and followed it up with a three-game sweep of their NL East rivals, the first place Philadelphia Phillies. The series, in which the Mets shut the Phillies out in all three games, marked the first time the Mets had shut out a team three days in a row since 1969—when the Mets shut out the Phillies three games in a row in September. It was also only the third time since 1876 that a first place team was shut out in all games of a sweep. The Mets finished 12-17 in May and an even 26-26 overall, having gone 6-4 from May 20 onward.

June

The Mets had a strong June, continuing their winning ways at Citi Field with a nine-game home winning streak extending from May. The team finally won a series on the road, compiling a 7-2 record from June 11 to the 20th, sweeping the Baltimore Orioles and Cleveland Indians before losing two of three against the Yankees in Yankee Stadium. The Mets' resurgence was due in part to R.A. Dickey, Hisanori Takahashi and Jon Niese bolstering the starting rotation as well as José Reyes and David Wright emerging from their early season struggles to lead the team's offense. The Mets finished June 18-8, 1½ games behind the Atlanta Braves for the NL East lead and holding the NL Wild Card lead.

July and August

The Mets went into July in second place behind the Atlanta Braves. In the final series before the All-Star break, which began with the Mets just three games out of first, the Mets lost two of three to the Braves, dropping them to four games back. They never recovered, struggling for the rest of July, culminating with a 2-9 West Coast road trip, including a sweep at the hands of the last-place Arizona Diamondbacks. Their season spiraled downward further when in August, Francisco Rodriguez beat up his father-in-law in front of the other players' family. In the process, Rodriguez tore a ligament in his hand and, needing surgery, his season was ended. As a result, the Mets began the process of trying to void his contract, and placed him on the disqualified list, not paying him for the remainder of the season. In July Jason Bay suffered a concussion that he would never return from. Jeff Francoeur was traded to the Texas Rangers as August came to an end.

September and October

The season ended when Óliver Pérez earned his fifth loss of the season by hitting a batter then issuing three straight walks in the 14th inning against the Washington Nationals. The Mets lost the game 2-1.

Game Log

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Roster

Player stats

Batting

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;
PlayerGABRH2B3BHRRBISBBBKAVG
José Reyes1335638315929101154303163.282
David Wright15758787166363291031969161.293
Ángel Pagán151579801683171169374497.290
Jason Bay953484890206647104491.259
Jeff Francoeur1244014395162115482976.237
Ike Davis147523731383311971372178.264
Rod Barajas74249563011012340839.225
Carlos Beltrán64220215611372733039.255
Josh Thole7320217567131712425.277
Luis Castillo8624728584201783925.235
Alex Cora6216914356302041016.207
Henry Blanco501301028502811126.215
Gary Matthews, Jr.365891130011624.190
Fernando Tatís416561240260619.185
Chris Carter10016715449042411217.263
Rubén Tejada78216284612011522238.213
Lucas Duda29841117604130622.202
Mike Pelfrey32622700030213.113
Johan Santana276221130110022.177
Mike Hessman32556721160823.127
Frank Catalanotto2525241001015.160
Mike Jacobs724151012037.208
Jon Niese305331020040827.189
Jesús Feliciano54108122541031612.231
Luis Hernández17444111026127.250
Nick Evans203651130150110.306
R.A. Dickey25517132005038.255
Joaquín Árias2230561004026.200
John Maine1010000000006.000
Óliver Pérez179010001014.111
Hisanori Takahashi5116010000003.063
Fernando Martínez718130002015.167
Dillon Gee512021001008.167
Mike Nickeas510020000005.200
Raúl Valdés3610141001003.400
Pat Misch128010000004.125
Justin Turner48111000010.125
Ramón Ortiz165000000002.000
Jenrry Mejía303110000001.333
Fernando Nieve392000000000.000
Bobby Parnell411000000000.000

Pitching

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;
PlayerGGSWLSVIPHRERBBKERA
Mike Pelfrey34331591204.02138883681133.66
Johan Santana29291190199.01796766551442.98
R.A. Dickey27261190174.11656255421042.84
Jon Niese30309100173.21929781621484.20
Hisanori Takahashi53121068122.01165149431143.61
Pedro Feliciano92036062.266242330563.30
Raúl Valdés38133158.259333227564.91
Francisco Rodríguez530422557.145141421672.20
Elmer Dessens53042047.041141216162.30
Óliver Pérez17705046.154373542376.80
Fernando Nieve40124042.037282822386.00
Manny Acosta41032139.230131318422.95
John Maine9913039.247292725396.13
Jenrry Mejía33304039.046212020224.62
Pat Misch12604037.24320164233.82
Bobby Parnell41001035.04113118332.83
Dillon Gee5522033.02510815172.18
Ryota Igarashi34011030.129242418257.12
Ramón Ortiz16212030.033222116216.30
Brian Bruney19012017.221181520167.64
Sean Green1100009.17648123.86
Tobi Stoner100102.1311103.86

Farm system