The playoffs are right around the corner. Barring a total collapse, the Mets are in. However, they are not a team without issues. Here are mine:
Starting pitching: So far, so good with Pedro. But, will Hernandez be sound enough? And, regardless of the fourth starter, there’s not much confidence.
Bullpen: Spotty all year. Will the one person outside of Willie and Omar with faith in Mota identify yourself.
Carlos Delgado: They need his bat. For all those Delgado bashers out there, they need him.
Post your comments and vote in the poll.
18 Comments
Starters:: I’m feeling more confident lately. El Duques injury is a bit troublesome, but maybe if he’s the pitcher out of the pen, it will put less strain on him.
Bullpen:: Mota needs to go. Will Joe Smith ever get called back up?? I would not mind him.
Delgado:: I miss you and your hitting. Green has filled in well at first though.
Nothin’ like a little competition to stoke the post season fire between Maine and Perez as they both pitched well the in their past start. If they continue, the Mets will have at least one fine addition to the pen. I think El Duque’s problem was because of not having pitched in almost 2 weeks. He’s a big game starting pitcher and I think he will be key in Oct. Oh, and dump Mota before it’s to freakin late. I mean, is his mind really in the game? As I said earlier, what was with the [near-errant] throws-over to 1B with the go-ahead run on 3rd last night … to prevent the SECOND go-ahead run from getting into scoring position? I’m confused, but I would be less confused if Mota were gone. If Delgado is not 100% come Oct, then maybe he can be used in a pinch hitting role (ala Gibson in ‘88).
You are so predicatble John. Here are the Mets, taking off with the NL East with a good chance to secure home field throughout the playoffs, the team is starting to come together, and you’re all concerned about something. I mean, yes, obviously, there are faults with this team, just like every other team has faults. There is no great team, there is absolutely no guarantee to who will win the world series. Great teams can go into the postseason and win it all, or at least make it to the series and give themselves an excellent chance. These days, that simply does not happen. THERE ARE NO GREAT TEAMS. Everyone team in the league has faults, just as the Mets do. It’s a matter of which team will put it together at the right time, right place, all that. And guess what…we simply will not know UNTIL IT ACTUALLY HAPPENS. You just make yourself out to be a worry wort making posts like this. Report on the team, that’s what we want. Opinions are like…you know what.
Rotation:
Perez and Maine both seem to pick it up when needs be, Glavine is on fire and pretty darn reliable in the postseason. Pedro will be 2-3 games stronger and Hernandez has 20 days to regroup and get his act together and I do think he will. He’s been our most consistent pitcher all season so I have faith.
Bullpen:
Heilman, Feliciano, Sosa and Wagner. 4 pitchers with whom I have faith in and I assume Maine and Pelfrey will be the remaining arms. Sele is not someone we need and Mota just hasn’t been Mota and I think Willie thinks that too despite what he says in public. We all remember how Willie acted like Franco was his #1 guy until he was off the team.
Delgado: This is one thing I am worried about. He will return but will he return in time to get back into some good kind of rhythm or is that overrated? Alou came back and from day one was on fire. Same said for Beltran. But, like the rotation, I have faith in Delgado. He was huge for us last postseason.
dont forget delgado was tearing it up last year…aka his first year in the playoffs…he was obviously disappointed that they didn’t win so he probably wants retribution and to redeem himself on the season by being clutch in the playoffs…thats if they get there…
the schoenweiss and newhan deals are looking terrible by the way…
the concern i have is who is going to be on the bench in the playoffs? there are so many guys to choose from for obviously various reasons…
chavez
gotay
anderson
conine
gomez
milledge
and the backup catching situation…
choose from:
alomar jr.
difelice
castro (questionable)?
anyways like they’ve all been saying its too early to say…so lets wait
#1 concern is the bridge to Wagner and Wagner himself. He doesn’t seem to do all that well when the heat’s really on. And I don’t want Mota in the bullpen come October under any circumstances.
#2 concern is that El Duque insists he’s fine and is put in the rotation or bullpen for the postseason but he’s really not fine. His foot still hurts and it ends up curtailing his effectiveness in the postseason.
#3 concern is that Delgado comes back and is really rusty and he becomes a big hole in the middle of the lineup as he has been for most of the year.
If all these issues can be avoided I think they will be fine.
Tasan: good point…we have a little time so let’s wait! I agree.
But in my mind, Mota should not be on any post season roster. I hope they find a way to trade him for a bucket of sunflower seeds over the summer. Does Tampa Bay seem interested? We’ll just say he’s a taller version of Kazmir!
JK: The heat was on pretty high for Wagner last night and except for a brief misstep before turning around and tagging the 3rd out, I’d say he did great. Wagner has been great all year with the exception of August. I’m much more concerned that Duque will end up out of the playoff lineup and Willy will choose Mota to replace him.
My biggest concern is the gap that often occurs between the starting pitcher and the closer. I just hate seeing 3,4,5 guys show up and throw to a batter and a half each. You kill pitchers that way, and that is a bad habit that Willie picked up from Torre.
The other concern is the post season itself – not everyone can play under pressure on the Big Stage with all the hoopla that surrounds it. It’s like theatre, you never know if you’ve conquered your stage fright until you are actually On Stage.
Fortunately the Mets starting rotation has some depth.
Nobody wants El Duque to go down but in the event it happens, you simply have Maine and Perez in the rotation.
And compare them to any of the other teams 4th starter and its looking good. The Mets starting rotation is not something to worry about.
JB: Wagner has been great most of the year but in many high profile games such as the All-Star game, postseason games, and interleague games with the Yankees he has a real spotty record. I think he gets so amped up sometimes that his control suffers. Maybe he needs to take some valium or something. I don’t that’s banned by MLB. I think Wagner is still one of the top closers in baseball, but he’s not as trustworthy as he should be in big pressure situations.
As for Mota in the postseason, it will be a decision that Omar and Willie make together with Peterson and the rest of the coaching and FO staffs. It won’t be Willie’s choice alone. Just trying to ward off the Willie bashing that will ensue should Mota end up on the roster in October. Ugh. The thought of it is painful.
There aren’t too many NL relievers who have been more trustworthy than Wagner this year.
This…
http://www.rolaidsreliefman.com/standings.aspx
...shows him in 5th place in the NL Rolaids Relief chance with 4 guys ahead of him who have blown more saves.
Starting Pitching As everyone has stated a lot hinges on the health of El Duque. Maine is very questionable now. However, the weakness is we do not have a stud. We have a nice pitching staff but no shut down pitchers. In a short series that is what you want.
Relief Wagner has had his issues lately which is a concern. Also the middle guys have their issues which is a concern only because of the starters. If we had better starters this group would be a non issue.
Delgado/Alou If these guys are both healthy and effective we should be able to avoid a repeat of last year where the opposing starting pitching shut us down.
Dave
Dave: I think Wagner is back. But he is still difficult to trust in the post season given his past history. I think the Mets can get away with not having a shut down starter, really IMO only the Pads and D-Backs have one in Peavy and Webb but I still don’t think it should stop the Mets over a series. Believe it or not, the scareiest team to me is the Dodgers because of Broxton and Saito, so I hope they don’t get in. Offensively, D. Wright is going to have the weight of the world on his shoulders IMO. He can not have a repeat of last year’s NLCS where he was relatively ineffective.
The scariest thing to me is the Mets including Mota in the Post Season roster. Then compounding their mistake by inserting him in a close game at Shea.
Steve,
I tend to agree with you. I hope and pray that Wagner is back to where he was most of this season. He has been much better than last where I never really had confidence in him. This season he was convinced to not just throw hard, harder, hardest which has helped in many ways. So he doesn’t just explode when the hitter is locked into the fastball and can go get it.
I disagree on the starting pitching. In 86 and in years past ( when we didn’t get in ) we were undone by one pitcher on the staff. In a seven game series they can pitch up to 3 times against you. That is why I would give up A Lot to get a stud pitcher. If they have the stuff and this means 2 great pitches or one great pitch and two very good secondary pitches then you go get them and pay the price. This is if you are a team like we have and are building a dynasty from a very solid base.
The only way for us to get better is to do 3 for 1 trades or free agent pickups. We do not have many holes. No glaring weaknesses. But for the most part we have no All stars on the roster with the exception of Reyes. Everyone else has some issue or other.
We need hitters who do not give in and will wear out the pitcher. We need pitchers who scare the hell out of you. Else we will be as someone said above ( or in another thread ). One of the pack who has a shot.
Dave
Dave: Who would have known that Jeff Suppan would have been the Cardinals “shut down” pitcher last year? Heck , The Mets basically beat Carpenter twice in last year’s NLCS. Anyone can step up and be that shut down kinda guy. Also, be careful about the trade for the stud pitcher. Take Johan Santana for example. He’s been far from a shut down pitcher in the playoffs. Randy Johnson as well in history hasn’t been a great post season pitcher. I guess i’m saying is you just never know.
Steve,
I agree ya never know. Doc had spotty results and more recently Hampton who pitched well in the season was less than spectacular in the post. It is all about pressure and how you handle it as well as if you just get hot.