Mets who were better than you thought they would be

[Benjamin Grimm]

I guess this is the good-news counterpart to the other thread.



I'll open with Lenny Randle, Howard Johnson, David Cone, and R.A. Dickey.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I guess this is the good-news counterpart to the other thread. I'll open with Lenny Randle, Howard Johnson, David Cone, and R.A. Dickey.

I was just thinking to start this thread. I also had Hojo. And RA Dickey, who's probably gonna end up being the king of this thread. I'll also go with Todd Hundley.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I guess this is the good-news counterpart to the other thread. I'll open with Lenny Randle, Howard Johnson, David Cone, and R.A. Dickey. I was just thinking to start this thread. I also had Hojo. And RA Dickey, who's probably gonna end up being the king of this thread. I'll also go with Todd Hundley.

And Jake deGrom. He's been excellent pretty much from his MLB debut. But nothing about his college or minor league history hinted at the level of dominance deGrom attained with the Mets. He didnt even pitch initially, in college. His background was as a converted pitcher who had Tommy John surgery.

[Chad ochoseis]

I was thinking about this too... it's a harder thread. I can't really say "hey, Jeff McNeil is better than I thought he'd be" because I never thought about Jeff McNeil at all until out of nowhere we had a .310 hitting middle infielder.



But speaking of middle infielders, I never thought Luis Guillorme was ever going to hit enough to stick on a major league roster.



Also, I thought Angel Pagan was going to be a scrub, but he turned into a solid player for a couple of seasons.

[roger_that]

Woulda been funny if all twelve of us started the same thread simultaneously, no?



I remember being flabbergasted when Terry Leach came out of nowhere, specifically out of the bullpen, and turned into a kick-ass starter, way back when.



And I remember hoping that this Dykstra kid would fill in for Mookie Wilson half decently when Mookie went down. And that this fat kid from Hawai'i who threw sort of like a girl could fool the hitters for a few weeks with his half-assed fastball.



And I really didn't believe in Pete Alonso when I heard he had a little minor-league pop in his bat.

[Willets Point]

Rick Reed, 26th round draft pick and 1995 replacement player, suddenly becoming a highly-effective starter for the Mets for a few seasons was a surprise.

[G-Fafif]

For one year, Jose Valentin was the power-hitting second baseman we weren't expecting.

[TransMonk]

deGrom x100.

[Fman99]

I never thought Daniel Murphy would turn into an impact player.

[Marshmallowmilkshake]

Jonathan Villar.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

Yeah Alonso surprised me a lot.



I remember seeing him at Spring Training before he made his debut--I think a season before that when he was still "Peter Alonso" I do believe I described him here as a lumpy guy with little dinosaur arms

[Benjamin Grimm]

And the buzz was that he'd never have a good enough glove to play first base in the majors.

[kcmets]

Justin Turner has to get an honorable mention, no?



(or is that even another thread?)

[Chad ochoseis]

I think the thought is "better as a Met". We could have a whole 'nuther thread called "What the Hell Were the Mets Thinking?" dedicated to players who we wish we hadn't given up on.



Yeah, I remember thinking it was a shame there was no spot for Pete on the club because Dom Smith was going to be our 1B of the future.



Half the '22 team probably has spots in this thread.