35-year old righty starting pitcher R.A. Dickey is looking like a late bloomer for the New York Mets. He has started 26 games for the Mets so far this year and he is 11-9 with a 2.86 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. Dickey finally appears to have figured out how to control his knuckleball as he has only walked 41 batters in 173 1/3 innings so far this year. Dickey has now pitched in 170 games (74 starts) in his 8 years in the majors and he is 33-37 with 2 saves, a 4.70 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP. It will be interesting to see if Dickey continues to roll in 2011 because the Mets need him to be successful again.

The Mets have shut down 33-year old switch hitting CF Carlos Beltran after an MRI showed inflammation in his surgically repaired right knee. Beltran played in 64 games for the Mets this year and he was 56 of 220 (.255 avg, .768 OPS) with 21 runs scored, 7 homers, 27 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. In his last two injury filled years, Carlos Beltran has played in 145 games for the Mets and he is 156 of 558 (.280 avg) with 71 runs scored, 17 homers, 75 RBIs and 14 stolen bases. The Mets were smart to shut down Beltran so that he can at least start the 2011 season healthy.

The Mets have finally pulled the plug on 31-year old righty swinging left fielder Jason Bay’s season.  Bay missed almost half of the year due to a nasty concussion.  Bay played in 95 games for the Mets this year and he is 90 of 348 (.259 avg, .749 OPS) with 48 runs scored, 6 homers, 47 RBIs and 10 stolen bases.  Bay has some work to do to get back in the good graces of Mets’ fans and the front office as he didn’t play that well before he was injured.

23-year old lefty swinging Ike Davis didn’t start the year as the Mets’ starting 1B. But when they called him up early in the year he ran with the job. Davis has played in 135 games for the Mets so far this year and he is 125 of 481 (.260 avg, .787 OPS) with 67 runs scored, 18 homers, 69 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. He does whiff a lot (131 times so far this year) but that’s really nitpicking on a team like the Mets that is desperate for Davis’ power. Davis will head into the 2011 season as the Mets’ 1B of both the future and right now.

The Mets have shut down 25-year old righty reliever Bobby Parnell due to a elbow issue. Parnell pitched in 41 games (0 starts) for the Mets this year and he was 0-1 with a 2.83 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP. He gave up 41 hits this year in only 35 innings but he limited the damage by only walking 8 batters this year. Parnell was very aggressive as evidenced by his 33 whiffs this year. Parnell has really seemed to learn how to pitch this year so hopefully he will be a key part of the Mets’ pen in 2011.