32-year old righty swinging catcher John Buck has been a major surprise for the Mets with the bat so far in 2013.  He has played in 25 games for the Mets so far this year and he is 25 for 95 (.263 avg, .905 OPS) with 16 runs scored, 10 homers and a N.L. leading 29 RBIs.  This power display is coming out of nowhere as he has career highs of 20 homers and 66 RBIs.  The Mets hope that Buck will keep ripping the ball, as they would have been having big time trouble scoring runs without him driving the ball like he is so far this year.

28-year old righty swinging 1B Josh Satin will get another shot to play for the Mets if he keeps swinging a hot stick in AAA.  He has played in 25 games in AAA-ball for the Mets so far this year and he is 31 for 93 (.333 avg, .969 OPS) with 22 runs scored, 4 homers and 17 RBIs.  Satin has also played in 16 games in his first two years with the Mets and he is 5 for 26 (.192 avg, .481 OPS) with 3 runs scored, 0 homers and 2 RBIs.  Satin has whiffed 12 times while only walking 1 time so far in his major league career, and that’s not too good.

28-year old lefty swinging 2B Daniel Murphy is off to a fast start with the bat for the Mets in 2013.  He has played in 22 games for the Mets so far this year and he is 27 for 86 (.314 avg, .843 OPS) with 17 runs scored, 2 homers and 13 RBIs.  Murphy has career highs of 62 runs scored, 12 homers and 65 RBIs in his first four years with the Mets and he could smash all of those numbers if he keeps up the good work with the bat.  The Mets need all of the help that they can get offensively this year, so the need Murphy to keep up the good work.

The Mets have signed 25-year old righty starting pitcher D.J. Mitchell to a minor league deal.  He pitched in 1 game (1 start) in AAA-ball for the Mariners this year and he was 0-0 with a 6.75 ERA and a 2.50 WHIP.  Mitchell has now pitched in 103 games (96 starts) in his first five years in the minors and he is 47-26 with a 3.53 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP.  Mitchell’s only major league experience came last year for the Yankees when he worked in 4 games (0 starts) in which he was 0-0 with a 3.86 ERA and a 2.14 WHIP.  Mitchell will start his time in AAA-ball for the Mets in 2013.

Lefty starting pitcher Jerry Koosman was one of the best starting pitchers in New York Mets’ history.  He pitched in 376 games (346 starts) in 12 years with the Mets and he was 140-137 with 5 saves, a 3.09 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP.  He burst onto the scene for the Mets in 1968.  He pitched in 35 games (34 starts) for the Mets in 1968 and he was 19-12 with a 2.08 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP.  He finished in 2nd place in the N.L. Rookie of the Year Voting, was elected to the All-Star team and he finished 13th in the MVP Voting in 1968.  He even pitched better in 1969 for the Amazing Mets that won the World Series.  Koosman pitched in 32 games (all starts) for the Mets in 1969 and he was 17-9 with a 2.28 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP.  Koosman was awesome in his two World Series starts against the Orioles in 1969 as he was 2-0 with a 2.04 ERA and a 0.62 WHIP.  1979 was also a big year for Koosman as he finished in 2nd place for the N.L. Cy Young Award voting and he finished 14th in the N.L. MVP voting.  Koosman pitched in 34 games (32 starts) for the Mets in 1979 and he was 21-10 with a 2.69 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP.  Koosman is still #3 in Mets’ history with his 140 wins.  He is also #4 in games pitched (376), #2 in games started (346), #5 in ERA (3.09), #2 in innings pitched (2,544 2/3), #3 in strikeouts (1,799), #2 in complete games (108) and he’s tied for #2 in shutouts with Jon Matlack (26) in Mets’ history.

28-year old righty reliever Bobby Parnell is looking really good in his first shot as the Mets’ full-time closer so far this year.  He has pitched in 7 games (0 starts) for the Mets so far this year and he is 0-0 with 2 saves, a 1.35 ERA and a 0.45 WHIP.  Parnell pitched in 74 games (0 starts) for the Mets last year and he was 5-4 with 7 saves, a 2.49 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP.  His performance last year gave the Mets’ brass confidence that he could handle be the closer in 2013.  He has now pitched in 256 games (8 starts) in his first six years with the Mets and he is 13-19 with 16 saves, a 3.76 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP.  Parnell has always had the stuff to close and he is excelling now because he is pounding the strike zone.

The New York Mets have designated 28-year old lefty starter/reliever Aaron Laffey for assignment.  Laffey pitched in 4 games (2 starts) for the Mets this year and he was 0-0 with a 7.20 ERA and a 2.10 WHIP.  He has given up 16 hits and 5 walks in 10 innings with the Mets while whiffing 9 batters, so he got hit pretty hard.  Laffey has now pitched in 152 games (67 starts) in his first seven years in the majors and he is 25-29 with 1 save, a 4.44 ERA and a 1.51 WHIP.  This is not much of a loss for the Mets.

UPDATE:  (4/23/2013) - The Mets have lost Aaron Laffey to the Blue Jays on waivers.

The Mets have lost 24-year old righty swinging catcher Travis D’Arnaud indefinitely to a non-displace fracture of his left big toe.  He has played in 12 games in AAA-ball for the Mets so far this year and he is 9 for 36 (.250 avg, .901 OPS) with 12 runs scored, 1 homer and 8 RBIs.  He has also walked 12 times while only whiffing 8 times so far this year in AAA.  He has played in 495 games in his first seven years in the minors and he is 532 of 1,864 (.285 avg, .818 OPS) with 287 runs scored, 67 homers, 297 RBIs and 21 stolen bases.  John Buck’s hot start hitting this year for the Mets helps cushion the blow of D’Arnaud’s injury, as he is expected to be the starting catcher for the Mets at some point in 2013.

UPDATE:  (4/19/2013) - The Mets will be without Travis D’Arnaud for the next 4-8 weeks.

35-year old righty swinging RF Marlon Byrd came to the Mets this spring with his major league career on life support.  He played in 47 games for the Red Sox and Cubs last year in which he was 30 for 143 (.210 avg, .488 OPS) with 10 runs scored, 1 homer and 9 RBIs.  Byrd not only made the roster, but he has been starting most of the time in RF for the Mets so far this year.  Byrd has played in 11 games for the Mets so far this year and he is 11 for 41 (.268 avg, .726 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 1 homer and 10 RBIs.  The Mets hope that Byrd keeps up the good work with the bat as the Mets need all of the offensive help that they can get in 2013.

22-year old righty starting pitcher Zack Wheeler comes into this season as the Mets’ #1 prospect according to Baseball America.  He has pitched in 3 games (all starts) in AAA-ball so far this year and he is 0-1 with a 3.86 ERA and a 1.64 WHIP.  Wheeler has now pitched in 71 games (63 starts) in his first four years in the minors and he is 24-19 with a 3.50 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP.  Wheeler will either be pitching for the Mets at some point in 2013, or he could be prime trade bait.