Who Has Been the Most Pleasant Surprise?

[Elster88]

I like today's poll: Who has been the most pleasant surprise of the year for the Mets thus far?

nymets.com only listed the first five options above, I'm going for more.

I guess I could've put Banniser, Oliver, and a couple others in that list.

Write in with bold.

[Elster88]

For me, a tough call between Valentin and Chavez.

I expected a decent year from both Beltran (though not quite this good) and Glavine. I thought Lo Duca was decent, and that Nady had the chance to be decent. I thought there was a chance for Milledge and Soler to impress in their debuts.

I expected Valentin and Chavez to suck BHMC. I picked Chavez.

[TransMonk]

A lot of good choices, but the most pleasant surprise is Glavine.

If you would have told me back in March that Glavine would lead the NL in wins through 70ish games this year, I would have called you a liar.

[Elster88]

I wouldn't have expected him to be the leader necessarily, but I figured he could get a lot of run support this year. That combined with his good second half last year means it's not as big a surprise as a player who I thought sucked ass hitting over three hundred and throwing players out all over the diamond.

Depends on what you mean by "biggest surprise" I guess. If it means "most important surprise" to you, then I agree Glavine or Beltran would be my pick. But I interpret it to mean "most shocking surprise".

Your definition may vary, or course. I'm not trying to tell anybody what to think or to post.

[seawolf17]

I picked Glavine too, although Chavez is a good choice.

[Guest OlerudOwned]

I picked Duaner. He's been the go-to guy in the pen and I hated that trade when they first made it.

[MFS62]

I think there has to be a place for Delgado in the poll.
While he has put up close to his "usual numbers" , how many Mets fans thought we might see another veteran ( Alomar -like) sudden decline? For them, Carlos would be a pleasant surprise.

Later

[Elster88]

Bold in Delgado if needed.

[Guest KC]

Took Beltran. Married to the guy for so many years to come I was really
afraid that his signing would be a mistake metshistorical proportions coming
into this season. Of course he could cool down and his latter years on the
contract could suck ass ... but that's not the question of the day. Beltran.

[smg58]

I had to take Valentin. I think he's exceeding realistic expectations more than anybody else, although Sanchez and Chavez come close. I'm impressed by the spread in the votes, though.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Today's performance notwithstanding, the answer is Chad Bradford.

[RealityChuck]

LoDuca. I don't think anyone thought they were getting an all-star catcher.

[Benjamin Grimm]

The nicest surprise is that there are so many players who have been nice surprises.

[nymr83]

To me its gotta be Nady because he's never shown the ability to hit like this before.

With Beltran, Glavine, Valentin, etc. you're getting something you knew they could at least possibly if not likely do because they've done it before.

i'm not at all suprised with the way Soler is pitching.
sanchez has been better than expected but what has he pitched? 30 innings? add a couple of homers in there and he'd look bad (i'm not knocking him, just saying its a small sample size)

Chavez is close but i feel Nady has done more.

LoDuca ius not having a "great" year despite leading the catchers in the all-star balloting

You were right in leaving Bannister off, his starts worked out well but he got very very lucky in almost all of them and i've got to say i'm ok with never seeing him again.

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

I expected nothing from Duaner Sanchez, so I think he's my biggest surprise.

[Zvon]

There [u:d12e32c549]have[/u:d12e32c549] been many pleasant surprises.
For me, for Glavine to have 10 wins at this point is easily the biggest surprise.
He's doin what I had expected from Martinez.
I figured Glavine would have been hard pressed to win a dozen all season.
15 at best.
He may win 20, and that would be amazing, to me.

[soupcan]

Chavez & Valentin but I voted for Endy.

[Elster88]

Glavine 3
Sanchez 3
Valentin 3
Beltran 2
Chavez 2
Lo Duca 2
Nady 2
Bradford 1
So Many Surprises 1

[metirish]

Valentin

After such a horrible start to where he is now is just a surprise.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I was one of the Valentin voters.

[Elster88]

Valentin looks to be your winnah. (12)
Beltran, Glavine, Lo Duca, Sanchez (3)
Chavez, Nady (3)
Bradford, So many surprises (1)

Edit: Four more votes for Valentin, one for LoDuca.

[Guest Iubitul]

Valentin. That said, it is nice to have as many pleasant surprises as we have had so far.

[Vic Sage]

Beltran - I'm not suprised when a great player in the prime of his career plays great.

Glavine - After his 2nd half performance last season, I'm not surprised he has maintained that same level of performance this season. The 10 wins are a surprise, but thats about the Mets offense, not just Glavine.

Lo Duca - He's hitting what he hits in the 1st half of seasons. that his B.A. has no power behind it (thus lacking significant run production) also doesn't surprise.

XNady - Nady HAS hit like this, in short spurts in San Diego, and for extended periods in college and minors. He was one of SD's blue chip prospects, held back by injury and blocked by other players. That now, at age 27, he's hittting .260-.270 with power, is not a huge surprise, once he got the full-time gig. It remains to be seen if he can produce at this level over a full season.

Soler - We've had his coming fortold since he floated over from Cuba. That he's had a few good starts is not earth-shattering news.

Milledge - ditto.

Sanchez - I didn't like the trade on principle, but Sanchez was really good for the Dodgers, so, again, not a stunner when he's really good here.

This leaves Chavez and Valentin.

Chavez has always been a good fielder but never hit well enough to hold a major-league job. He's been terrific this year as a 4th OFer. Still, his age and his speed makes his production in limited playing time more understandable. His talent is such that a number of organizations took a shot at giving him a full-time job. So, while his hitting has been a pleasant surprise, its not as HUGE a surprise or as CRITICAL a surprise (given that Chavez remains a bench player) as the play of ...

...Jose Valentin.

He has been, by far, the biggest, most important and most pleasant surprise on the Mets, to date. As a 39-year old [on edit: 36] coming off a .190 season [on edit: .170], he was signed purely as a LH-ed pinch-hitter and general utility guy. His best days were clearly behind him, and he wasn't supposed to play very much. When he had an awful start of the season, Willie gave him a few starts, to get his bat going enough to keep his roster spot as a LHed PHer.

Valentin then went on to become the Mets everyday 2bman. Huh? Yup.

Surprising? Uh, yeah. Most folks thought his career was just about over, and it was a career that didn't include much playing time at 2b [on edit: in fact, none]. And he's gone on to show an excellent glove there. As a hitter, he's been hitting for a solid BA, which he's not done in his career, either.

But its not just surprising. The critical importance of his performance to this team's success so far cannot be oversstated. 2b had been the Mets achilles heal for years now, and Matsui's production (like Hernandez's, earlier in the season) was a drag on the offense. Once Valentin took over, the Mets offense took off. And it hasn't stopped yet.

He's played so well that nobody is even talking about the trade needed to fill our hole at 2b. Because we don't have one any longer.

I can't believe anybody here has NOT been totally and happily surprised by Valentin, so far this season.

[Elster88]

Excellent analysis. I narrowed it down to those two almost exactly the same way you did, but from there pretty much just metaphorically flipped a metaphorical coin. I'm switching my vote from Chavez to Valentin.

[metirish]

Yeah goood stuff Vic, is Valentin 39 or 36/37?

[Vic Sage]

Your right, Irish.
Valentin is 36, going on 37. And since he's from Puerto Rico, not Cuba or DR, the age is probably documented.

But to further clarify his stats, he only hit .170 (not .190) last season, after hitting .213 the season before. And his defensive stats indicate that he's never played 2b in the majors.

So, though a few years younger than i at first thought, my analysis stands.

[Guest Edgy DC]

I'm sticking with Bradford.

[Guest sharpie]

Bradford isn't a surprise for me, I thought he would be good.

[Elster88]

I knew next to nothing about him, so it's less of a surprise than someone who I thought reeked. To me, anyways.

[MFS62]

Elster88 wrote: I knew next to nothing about him, so it's less of a surprise than someone who I thought reeked. To me, anyways.

He ws the closer for the White Sox. Then they brought in a bunch of kids who throw 100MPH (hyperbole) and felt they didn't need him. They felt he was a "once around the league and out" guy with his funky delivery.

Later