On a night when Johan Santana was terrific, there are concerns about Aaron Heilman. Manager Willie Randolph said his faith in Heilman was not diminished by Greg Dobbs’ three-run, pinch-hit homer last night in the eighth.
“He’s still one of our best pitchers,’’ Randolph said. “I will never lose confidence in Aaron Heilman _ ever.’’
What Heilman needs to do, is figure out how to pitch better here. In 9 2/3 innings he’s given up ten earned runs.
PHOTO: MLB
3 Comments
Poor Aaron,little metsies just have to hate somebody on their very own team. And now they hate poor Aaron. nice picture of him He looks like he’d rather be dead than be playin for the metsies and their “despicable ” fans that are so mean to him. I bet they cheer him in Philly.
The question becomes, John:
Is Heilman pitching distracted?
Was he, more quietly this time, demanding to be converted to a starter when El Dinged-Up and Pedro went down and… when the organization stuck to their guns… he’s just moping through his performances?
Not tanking on purpose but… his heart’s just not in it because he’s still labouring under the delusion that he’s a major league starter?
It has always seemed to be what has taken his head out of the game and so I have to wonder if this is part of it and… his demands are just behind the scenes this time?
I think Aaron understands at this point that he’s not going to be a starter on this team, at least not as long as there is anyone in AAA, AA, A, the rookie league, the waiver wire, the beer leagues, etc, who still has a pulse.
He’s a smart guy. If he’s not smart enough to understand that at this point, someone needs to re-examine Notre Dame’s admission standards.
I’m going to go with the theory that he’s just off to another slow start much like last year. Am I happy about it? No. But I do expect that he’s going to turn it around.
It’s Willie’s job to realize that Aaron is having one of those nights and get him out of there as quickly as possible. He was able to do it last night while we still had the lead. Feliciano did his thing and then Wagner closed up shop. Here’s to hoping Sanchez truly is on his way to being back to the pitcher he was. If it happens, we’re in very good shape despite Aaron’s early season difficulties.