I don’t know about you, but if I’m the Mets I’m more than a little concerned with the bullpen. No matter what kind of spin they put on it, there’s a lot to make you think.
They say August, but you know it will be later than that for Duaner Sanchez. And, Guillermo Mota? Who is to say it wasn’t the juice that gave his fastball that little extra zip. And Amby Burgos reminds me more and more of Armando Benitez, which is hardly comforting.
Just a little something for you night owls to mull over. Or if there’s anything else that’s keeping you up, well, unload here.
Me? I’m listening to “Far Away Eyes,’’ by the Stones—they still have their fastball—before I call it a night and try to find something to eat. Trouble is, anything open now can’t be good for you.
12 Comments
Awesome song, John.
Keep up the great work.
Partying the night away, eh?
I’m watching the Reds/Red Sox game from today—the Reds are batting Adam Dunn 2nd because of his OBP. Interesting thought…
Also, it seems that Dice-K is really a junk pitcher who uses his breakingballs to set up his fastball. It’s just that his breakingballs are really good and he throws them all for strikes.
By the way, what happened to that piece about baseball cards that you promised, or rather, the piece that my post about a card- a Julio Franco 1990 Topps inspired you to write?
I’m listening to Pink Floyd’s “Learning to Fly” after last night’s “Battlestar Galactica” episode had a great version of “All Along the Watchtower.”
But the news on Sanchez is catastrophic. I said it before and I’ll say it again – Sanchez may have been our MVP last season. I’d much rather have had him on the mound in NLCS Game 7 in the 9th than Heilman.
I think we’ve gotta go get some bullpen help.
honestly, i’m not really all that worried…
I think with Smith, Heilman, Wager in the 7,8,9 spots, Feliciano, schowenweiss(sp?), and Sele should be alright…
just leave Park on the bench, and leave Burgos in NO.
Hello, Met fans! I have a question for Mr. Delcos. Has Burgos really been eliminated from consideration for a bullpen spot? Though he had some really rocky outings, it seems that he’s been basically OK the last few times he’s pitched. I ask this because, for all his problems, I wonder if he still can’t be good for us—not in September but in April. Assuming Park is able to provide decent pitching out of the pen, he should stick. That means it will come down to a choice between Sele and Burgos. Is Sele really a better option?
Hi John –
Thanks again for the box score link – very much appreciated.
Bullpen problems?
When pitchers became defined by innings – the ‘starter’ the ‘closer’, the ‘set up man’, etc. pitching became more problematic. Since no one is actually responsible for the whole game anymore, you are not going to have accountability – now, it will always be easy to blame the other guy.
The whole game of baseball changed when fragmented pitching arrived. No other playing position is treated this way. In fact, most of the other players will kick and scream if someone wants to take them out before the end of the game, just like Gibson used to.
I’d love to hear remarks and opinions about this from some of the old time greats. Most of them – Seaver, Gibson, Koufax, Ryan et.al still hold a lot of records that will never be broken now, since there few pitchers who ever pitch a complete game now.
Annie – it’s a different game today than the one that Seaver, Gibson, etc played. Look around the league. Only a few teams field an all-field, no-hit shortstop when nearly every team in the 60s and 70s used to. Therefore, pitchers need to go 100 percent vs. every hitter, which tires them out. Plus, pitchers are paid so much more today, making it far less likely for teams to push them and risk injury.
I really think everyone needs to relax about the bullpen. First off even after the latest setback, most people expected Sanchez to start the year on the DL. Sanchez came into camp out of shape and was never a factor. The Mets were without Duaner Sanchez for most of last year and went deep into the playoffs without him. We still have Wagner, Heilman and Feliciano, three big parts of our pen last season and with the addition of Shoenwiess and Joe Smith we should be fine. Also nobody expected guys like Darren Oliver or Chad Bradford to step up for us in 2006 and they did, hopefully we could get similar results from Park and Sele. With the addition of Mota in mid-season after the suspension and possibly Juan Padilla we should have more then enough bodies. Plus when you look at the upside of a kid like Burgos, if he can get straightened out in New Orlenas he could be a huge boost to the pen at some point during the year.
If Burgos reminds you of Benitez…then we are in REALLY REALLY good shape…
Last I checked he was a 2 time All-Star with 280 career saves and a 2.95 career ERA….
Not to mention the 78 innings of 1.85 ERA and 1.038 WHIP baseball the guy had in his first year with the Mets…(throw in the 128Ks in those innings)
FOR HIS 4+ SEASON METS CAREER HE HAD A 2.70 ERA !!!
If you tell me that Burgos will have an overall ERA of 2.70 for the next 5 years…then the Bannister trade might be the steal of Omar’s career….(plus the kid is only 23!!)
S-C-H-O-E-N-E-W-E-I-S
Its not that hard to spell people…get it right….
Heavy use of relievers is here to stay for the simple reason that it works. A pitcher can come into a game for an inning or two a throw harder and nastier pitches than if he had to pitch 7 innings. Relief pitchers have lower ERA’s for this reason. That means it would be stupid if a team didn’t take advantage of this and instead let all their starters pitch 8 or 9 innings.
WOW….We can now get spelling lessons here. Thanks for the lesson Matt!