Tonight’s Pitcher: Mike Pelfrey
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- April
- 20
Let’s say Mike Pelfrey gets rocked tonight by the Phillies. He could say,“I’ll be better next time,’’ and he would be right.
Win or lose tonight, Pelfrey will make another start. Such knowledge gives him a sense of comfort he’s never had in the major leagues, because with Orlando Hernandez on the disabled list indefinitely, Pelfrey knows he’s not going anywhere.
“It definitely helps, because if you do poorly you don’t have to look over your shoulder,’’ Pelfrey said. “I feel comfortable and I feel relaxed.’’
Pelfrey will make his third start of the season, and second against the Phillies. Pelfrey beat Philadelphia, 8-2, at Shea, April 9, giving up two runs in five innings.
This entry was posted
on Sunday, April 20th, 2008 at 12:34 pm by John Delcos.
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John,
Good idea for a post and I read your stuff every day. But I do think that Pelfrey needs to be looking over his shoulder if Pedro is going to come back as quickly as he says he is. Of course, Pedro says a lot of things… But I anticipate that he’ll be back long before El Duque. That’s when the Mets will need to make a decision between Pelfrey and Figueroa. The bottom line is that Pelfrey may only have a few weeks to prove that he’s a better option than Figueroa in the rotation.
Pelfrey really needs to go more than 5 innings today, score be damned. Wagner, Heilman, and Feliciano have all pitched 3 straight days I think. As for Pedro, I’m not saying he will be back before May as he’s intimated, but he knows his body better than Omar, Willie, Delcos, or anyone else. The surprise would not be that he comes back in May, but that he manages to stay off the DL for any longer than a couple starts. Ditto Moises Alou.
JD, do you know yet if Schneider is in the lineup? Schneider and Pelfrey work so well together I wouldn’t want to break that up right now. For the time being stick with the personal catchers and let Casanova catch Figueroa as well.
The Big Hurt is available, though I’m pretty sure that means nothing for the Mets.
Just read an article on Schneider’s injury, don’t see how he will be in the lineup today.
I hope big Pelf does good tonight, I would love to see this kid become a number 2 or 3 guy in the rotation for a long time.
And that kind of confidence was all Pelfrey ever needed.
It was also all that Milledge ever needed, Bannister ever needed, Bell ever needed, Jacobs ever needed and most likely all that Gotay will ever need.
The Mets need to learn this lesson and learn it well:
You don’t know what you’re getting out of a young guy unless you give him the spot and let him run with it and none of the hot breath of washed-up former All-Stars… Greens, Floyds, Castillos… breathing down their necks.
You’ll discard a lot of great players if you don’t learn that lesson and a lot of the reason why they’ve been slow to learn it is the NYC press’s fault.
Mike, I really think you need to calm down a bit. I am usually right there with you on how the Mets treat their young players, but the team is playing well… enjoy it.
Would I love to have Gotay? Sure. Bannister? Of course.
But, let’s give some credit where it is due. Church and Schneider have both fit in very well on this team. Also, the Mets gave spots to Joe Smith and John Maine and let them run with it. You could even argue that they’ve stuck with Big Pelf because they have confidence in his abilities.
As it stands now I think the only egregious mistakes this team has made regarding the youngsters is Bannister, Gotay, Lidstrom, Flores, and ironically, Keppinger. These guys were just discarded without getting much in return and were hardly given a chance to shine in NY. (granted, Gotay was given an extended look, but he played well! and they gave him away for nothing!)
As much as II beat the drum for Bell, I cannot deny he did not pitch well here. I still think he deserved another shot b/c of his ability, but I cannot call letting him go egregious. He did get a nice look from the team.
Milledge, as talented as he is, isn’t exactly setting the world on fire in DC. Sure he’s playing well and could certainly improve, but who would you rather have right now: Church and Schneider or Milledge?
We’ll have plenty of time to bitch when the next slump arrives. Meanwhile, enjoy whatever ride they are on…...
Rollins was put on the DL today. Since he PH yesterday, they can’t backdate it either. He’ll have to stay away for two weeks. Phillies made the same error the Mets made in the past with Beltran. But I think the Mets have learned their lesson and won’t fool around next time Beltran gets injured. Too bad for the Phillies. Not.
Ruben Gotay’s release was not the killer mistake, but Luis Castillo’s contract was. If Gotay was here, he’d ride the bench for 4 years. I liked Ruben, I didn’t like the move, but the real disaster is Luis Castillo’s 4-year deal.
sloppy, I assume your remarks are directed to Church, your personal whipping boy? Not the team I hope.
If the Big Hurt were willing to accept a lesser role, you’d have to consider him. He’d be a useful righty bat off the bench, as well as a nice option for a platoon at first base. He could even end up taking significant ABs away from Delgado.
Well scoop do you know the saying about assuming… well for your assuming information my remarks were directed at nobody in particular. My own personal whipping boy. man I am so lucky to have such an honor…. I thought I made less than perfect comments about many more than Church. I think I made the most about Minaya. By the way despite his good start he is a mediocre lefty version of Kevin McReynolds. Never does anything special never gets dirty. Wouldn’t of had a crisis in the 8th if he would have slid and caught that foul ball instead of trying to do a stupid lazy backhand. Is that what you wanted to hear, or would you rather be my own personal whipping boy?
sloppy: I agree why bitch about things when the team is winning. Sure they could do some things better but when they win why not look at the good things that happened that night.
Tiffany: The big hurt refused a lesser role in Toronto. They released him so he wouldn’t poison their clubhouse. Plus if you think Delgado can’t field why would you want a guy who doesn’t even know what a baseball glove is anymore.
Thank you Scott:
Hallelujah I can watch another met/phils game without having to listen to the hideous voice of Chris Wheeler, and the rapidly declining announcing skills of Harry Kalas, but that ex Met guy McCarthy or whatever is working for them. He is by far superior to his co-workers. They have another guy on they call Sarge, who isn’t too partial but he’s has won the all American award for boring two years in a row…. Thank you ESPN and Fox/////////
You guys in the NY area are lucky you can listen to the Met crew all the time. You can’t totally appreciate them until you are forced to listen to some of the others…...
Tiffany: The big hurt refused a lesser role in Toronto. They released him so he wouldn’t poison their clubhouse. Plus if you think Delgado can’t field why would you want a guy who doesn’t even know what a baseball glove is anymore.
Thank you Scott:
Hallelujah I can watch another met/phils game without having to listen to the hideous voice of Chris Wheeler, and the rapidly declining announcing skills of Harry Kalas, but that ex Met guy McCarthy or whatever is working for them. He is by far superior to his co-workers. They have another guy on they call Sarge, who isn’t too partial but he’s has won the all American award for boring two years in a row…. Thank you ESPN and Fox/////////
You guys in the NY area are lucky you can listen to the Met crew all the time. You can’t totally appreciate them until you are forced to listen to some of the others…...
Sloppy, I was assuming Church was where your comments were directed since youv’e made it clear you can’t stand the guy.
Anyway, good luck continuing to find all the negatives and no positives.
I did the blasting just to make you happy, I guess you are having a slow nite and couldn’t read sarcasm. As long as they win I’ll just look for the negatives in your posts. Would that be ok with you? I see you didn’t like the Dr Firelds note either. Too bad….
Why are my comments repeating and being moderated. I have been drinking with moderation all weekend.