Sure enough, just after I wrote about how I’d like to see Jerry Manuel try to stretch Aaron Heilman for some more two-inning relief appearances, Heilman blew a tie game in his second inning of work on Friday night.  After getting through the seventh inning cleanly, Heilman loaded the bases in the eighth and gave up a game-winning grand slam to pinch hitter Mark Loretta.  To add insult to injury (literally, considering the ailing arms of John Maine and Billy Wagner), Heilman was tagged with the loss again on Saturday in another collapse of sorts from the Mets’ bullpen.  This one was a group effort though, with Scott Schoenweis and Billy Wagner contributing to the blown 4-1 lead.  After yet another solid, but insufficiently long, outing from Johan Santana, Schoenweis allowed a solo home run to Kaz Matsui, who has killed the Mets, hitting .438 against his former team over the last three years.  Wagner then gave up a bizzare two-run single to Geoff Blum with the bases loaded in the ninth to blow the save, as both runners crashed into one another and Ramon Castro all at once at the plate.  Then, in the tenth, Heilman put the first two runners on base before handing the ball over to Pedro Feliciano.  Feliciano actually did not pitch poorly, striking out the first batter he faced and then allowing the game-ending sacrifice fly on a weakly hit liner by Darin Erstad.  Fernando Tatis made an excellent catch on Erstad’s sinking flare, but was unable to throw Lance Berkman out at the plate.

Continue reading "Shaky Pen Gets Mets Swept By 'Stros"

Theory of the Week:  Relief Spending

    Every winter the free agent frenzy escalates as contracts rise to astronomical amounts and lengths.  Some MLB executives balk at the dearth of talent and exhorbitant contracts, while others jump at the opportunity to sign what they think are the missing pieces, for whatever the market demands.  Swarming the headlines this past off-season were some of the questionable contracts signed by relief pitchers.

    While at first it may not seem like some of the signings were worthwhile (both in dollars and years), there may be a method to the GMs' madness.  Last season, teams that made the playoffs averaged a bullpen ERA of 3.94, compared with 4.30 for teams that fell short of the postseason.  Non-playoff teams also used their less reliable bullpens an average of 30 innings more than playoff teams.  That may not seem like much of a difference, but the combination of those two discrepencies equates to more than a run per game.  Consider that the extra run was usually being scored late in the game, and you may just have the grounds for a hefty investment.

Continue reading "Are Relief Pitchers Worth Their Contracts?"

    The Mets limped home from a disappointing 1-5 road trip with a slew of injuries.  Marlon Anderson and John Maine were put on the DL over the weekend and Billy Wagner joined them today with a strained left forearm.  Ramon Castro is still shaken up from the bizzare home plate collision on Saturday, and is listed as day-to-day with a sore ankle.  Rather than make any external moves, the Mets have turned to their farm system for help.  Although for the time being Jerry Manuel says he will use a bullpen by committee in the ninth inning, Eddie Kunz, the heir apparent to Billy Wagner, is on the major league squad and may get some looks in the closer role over the next two weeks while Wagner is out.  Daniel Murphy, who was a third baseman in the minors but requested some work at second base and the outfield--a smart move, considering David Wright isn't going anywhere anytime soon--is getting the start in left field tonight agains the Padres.  The Mets really love the way he hits, so he could be a fixture at the major league level for the remainder of the season and perhaps into the future.  And rumor has it that the Mets are considering calling up Jon Niese to make a few starts in Maine's stead.

Continue reading "Mets Look to Bounce Back at Home"

    Just when you think Fernando Tatis might be coming down to Earth and snapping his unbelievably hot hitting, he proves you dead wrong.  Tatis' two home runs last night powered the Mets toward their 6-5 triumph over the Padres, and his knack for coming through in the clutch continued.  His first homer tied the game at one, and his second put the Mets ahead 4-2.  Six of Tatis' nine home runs this year have either tied the game or given the Mets the lead.

    Mike Pelfrey continued his solid pitching, allowing just two runs over 6.2 innings, despite not having his best sinker.  Pedro Feliciano then came in and got four outs to bridge the Mets to the ninth, leading 6-2.  With Billy Wagner on the DL, Jerry Manuel turned to Aaron Heilman, and then the floodgates opened.  Heilman walked the first batter and the second reached on a misplayed pop-up that fell in between Argenis Reyes and Carlos Beltran.  He recorded an out on a fielder's choice, but then Jody Gerut hit a three-run bomb over the right field fence, and suddenly it was 6-5.  Joe Smith and Scott Schoenweis entered to retire a batter each and save the game, but the victory left a bad taste in any fan's mouth because of the continued struggles of the bullpen, namely Aaron Heilman, in Wagner's stead.

Continue reading "Heilman Nearly Wastes Efforts of Pelfrey and Tatis"

    When Pedro Martinez allowed a home run to Jody Gerut on the first pitch of the game, it already didn't look good.  Then, when he allowed another one just two batters later, it looked like it was definitely going to be a long day for Pedro and the Mets.  But Pedro settled down beautifully and allowed just two hits the rest of the way in his 6.1 innings pitched Wednesday night.  His curveball and change-up were both working well, forcing San Diego hitters to hit ground balls or pop up, as they were regularly off balance.

    But after Pedro allowed a couple of baserunners in the seventh, David Wright made a costly error on a Brian Giles cue shot with two outs, that allowed Luis Rodriguez to score the go-ahead run.  Eddie Kunz allowed a solo homer, the first round-tripper he's given up in more than three years, for a bit of insurance, but it was no matter because the Mets went down in order against Trevor Hoffman, the all-time saves leader, in the ninth anyway, and the Padres evened the series at 1-1.  Wright had also made a significant baserunning error in the fifth inning, getting doubled off at first on a Carlos Beltran fly ball to right field.

Continue reading "Wright's Lapses Contribute to Mets' Loss, But Pedro and Murphy Shine"

    Since when is a four-run, seventh inning lead against a team 17.5 games out of first place not safe?  Since the Mets' bullpen hit rock bottom.

    The Mets' plan for Monday afternoon's makeup game against the Pirates was to get on top early and send Pittsburgh packing quickly.  When David Wright knocked a three-run home run to right center in the first, and Pedro Martinez allowed only one run through six innings, the game seemed to be following how it was scripted.  But then on came the New York bullpen.

    Joe Smith started the seventh inning with a 5-1 lead, and promptly walked the lead-off batter, and allowed him to score on a double by pinch hitter Freddy Sanchez.  5-2, Mets.  Enter Pedro Feliciano.  After Nate McLouth, the Pirates' best hitter, gave the Mets a gift of an out on a sacrifice bunt, Feliciano walked Luis Rivas on four pitches and gave up an RBI double to Doug Mientkiewicz.  Ryan Doumit followed with a sacrifice fly to chase Feliciano and pull Pittsburgh to within one run.  Duaner Sanchez came on to retire Andy LaRoche to end the seventh, and tossed a hitless eighth to keep the 5-4 lead in tact.  Enter Aaron Heilman.  After striking out McLouth, Heilman looked like he might cruise to his third straight save.  But he then fell behind 3-0 on Rivas, who singled to left, and walked Mientkiewicz to put the go-ahead run on base.  Doumit smacked a line drive off the right field wall for the game-tying RBI single, and Heilman hit LaRoche to load the bases.  5-5.  Enter Scott Schoenweis.  Damion Easley threw home on a hard smash by Brandon Moss to nail Mientkiewicz at the plate, and it looked like Schoenweis might preserve the tie.  But Steve Pearce had a different idea.  With the merry-go-round in motion on a full count, Pearce lined a single into left center to score two runs.  7-5, Pirates.  Exit Mets.

Continue reading "Heilman Heads Up Another Bullpen Meltdown"

    Well, it's become quite obvious that the Mets desperately need to find someone else to close in Billy Wagner's absence.  When Wagner had to miss a game against the Phillies three weeks ago with forearm stiffness, Duaner Sanchez dropped the ball.  Since Wagner was placed on the DL last week, Heilman has been awful in two of his four ninth inning chances.  In order to put an end to the bullpen's pattern of implosion, Jerry Manuel offered two other options after yesterday's game:  Eddie Kunz and John Maine.

    Kunz closed for Oregon State's College World Series team in 2006 and was the closer for Double-A Binghamton before the Mets called him up to the big leagues.  The Mets drafted him with the intention of molding him into their closer of the future, since Wagner is 36 years old and has just one year left on his contract after this season.  Despite his lack of major league experience, he's actually the only pitcher on the Mets' staff other than Wagner with any sort of closing experience.  At first Manuel wanted to keep him out of high-pressure situations for the time being, but the ineptitude of the rest of the bullpen has forced the manager's hand.  Consistent with Manuel's comments after yesterday's game, Kunz will get an opportunity to close tonight, if necessary.

Continue reading "Mets' Season May Depend on Kunz"

Baseball History Tidbit of the Week

1903 World Series:  Boston Americans (AL) 5, Pittsburgh Pirates (NL) 3

    Sometime this October, the best team from the American League will play against the best team from the National League in the World Series, to determine the best team in baseball.  No one will dispute the legitimacy of one of the leagues, and no one will question the means by which the two competing teams were chosen.  It hasn't always been that simple though.

    Since the inception of the American League in 1901, there was a bitter hatred between the team owners of both leagues, mostly spurred by AL owners raiding NL teams of their players.  In 1903, Barney Dreyfuss, the owner of the NL's Pittsburgh Pirates, offered an outstretched hand to Henry Killilea, the owner of the AL's pennant winner, the Boston Americans.  In the interests of furthering the scope of baseball as a sport, and of course making money, the two owners agreed to hold a best of nine series to determine the champion of baseball.  The Pirates were heavily favored over the representatives of the supposed second-class, upstart American League.

Continue reading "The First Fall Classic"

    No, it wasn't the first perfect game ever thrown by a Mets pitcher, but it was a game that went exactly according to plan.  John Maine came off the DL in style last night, tossing five scoreless innings while allowing just one hit.  Although Maine was on a short leash with regard to pitch count, Brian Stokes made sure the bullpen got its rest, throwing four shutout innings of his own.  Stokes provided the time type of long relief outing New York's bullpen has sorely missed since the departure of Darren Oliver after the 2006 season.  The offense scored 12 runs to complement the stellar pitching, and Daniel Murphy and Fernando Tatis each homered to lead the onslaught.  Jose and Argenis Reyes had two hits apiece, and Carlos Beltran drove in two, as New York scored eight runs in the third inning to put it away early.  Things are looking pretty good for the time being, but the real test will come the next time the Mets have a slim lead late in a game.

Continue reading "Perfect Game Moves Mets Back Into First"

    Another solid outing from Oliver Perez and another offensive onslaught sealed the Mets' 9-3 win, and a three-game sweep over the Nationals.  The Mets cruised through the first six innings behind Perez's dominance, and built a 5-0 lead, but Perez ran out of gas in the seventh and gave back three runs.  Joe Smith got the final out of the inning, and it appeared that the rest of the game would be an interesting test of the New York bullpen.  Smith got the first out in the eighth but ran into some trouble after walking Lastings Milledge and Austin Kearns, so Jerry Manuel called upon Duaner Sanchez.  Sanchez got out of the inning unscathed and the Mets had a 5-3 lead after eight.  The suspense mounted.

    When the Mets came to bat in the top of the ninth Pedro Feliciano was warming up in the bullpen, presumably because the left-handed Willie Harris was due to lead off, but the rest of the ninth would be anyone's guess.  However, the Mets scored four more runs on Damion Easley's pinch-hit two-run single and Washington's sloppy defense, to put the game out of reach.  Aaron Heilman pitched a scoreless ninth, and the Mets avoided a save situation.

Continue reading "Mets Finish Off Sweep in D.C."

    The Mets' woes with the bases loaded finally ended Tuesday night when Carlos Delgado doubled off the wall in left to score two and put New York ahead 4-3 in the eighth.  Prior to Delgado's two-bagger, the Mets had just three hits in their last 42 at-bats with the bases loaded.  Then, after an intentional walk to Fernando Tatis, Damion Easley came up with a bases-loaded hit of his own, singling into left center to score two more runs.  Ramon Castro topped the five-run inning off with an RBI double down the line in left, and the Mets completed the comeback from a 3-2 eighth inning deficit.

    Oliver Perez didn't have his best stuff, but still managed to keep the team in the game through 6.1 innings, allowing only three runs despite giving up seven hits and five walks.  Luis Ayala relieved Perez with two runners on and one out in the seventh, and immediately endeared himself to Mets fans by brushing back Omar Infante with some chin music, and then retiring Infante and Brian McCann on successive pop-ups.  Aaron Heilman escaped a jam in the eighth without allowing a run, and Scot Schoenweis tossed a scoreless ninth to nail down the victory.

Continue reading "Delgado, Easley Spark Comeback Against Braves"

    The mystery of how Jerry Manuel will manage the bullpen was put on hold for a day, as Mike Pelfrey pitched his first career complete game Wednesday.  Pelfrey didn't even seem to have his best stuff, but he worked economically throughout the game and kept his pitch count down.  He only struck out three batters, mainly relying on aggressive Braves hitters putting the ball in play early in the count.  The only blemish was the sixth inning, which still could have been much worse.  Atlanta loaded the bases on a bunt single and two walks, but Pelfrey induced a double play grounder from Brian McCann, and he had a chance to escape with only one run allowed.  But he bounced a wild pitch to the next batter and Yunel Escobar scored from third, before Mark Kotsay lined out to left to end the inning.  Pelfrey settled down thereafter and cruised through the next three innings, retiring all nine batters on just 25 pitches.

Continue reading "Pelfrey Goes The Distance"

    The Mets blew leads of 3-0 and 4-3 on Sunday, and Pedro Feliciano gave up two solo bombs in the 10th inning to give New York their second straight loss against the Astros.  Oliver Perez had just one rocky inning, allowing a sacrifice fly to Mark Loretta and a two-run homer to Hunter Pence in the fourth, but Aaron Heilman couldn't hold the one-run lead in the seventh.  He allowed hits to both batters he faced, but was credited with recording an out when Fernando Tatis gunned Geoff Blum out at the plate in the seventh.  The homers Feliciano allowed in the 10th came from two players who had combined for a total of three taters all season until their extra-inning blasts.  You know you don't have your best stuff on a particular day when you give up a go-ahead home run to a defensive replacement (Brad Ausmus).

Continue reading "Feliciano Blows Up In 10th"

    Mike Pelfrey has displayed the utmost kindness to Mets fans over his last two starts, sparing us the privilege of seeing the bullpen crumble.  The last time a Mets starter went the distance in back-to-back starts was 2001, when Rick Reed (one of my personal favorites) did so in his first two starts of the season, both against the Braves.  But, he lost the second game 2-0 to Greg Maddux, who allowed just one hit over seven innings.  John Rocker recorded the save.  For the last time a Mets starter won consecutive complete games we have to go back to June of 1995, when Bret Saberhagen beat Atlanta 4-2 and Florida 5-2, before the Mets dealt him to the Rockies at the trade deadline, for Juan Acevedo and, of course, Arnold Gooch.

    But the Mets won't be trading Pelfrey anytime soon.  At least not unless they bring back Dan Duquette as GM--Victor Zambrano anyone?  Despite rumors that Pelfrey's work will be limited from here on out, the 24-year-old has gotten stronger and stronger as the season has worn on.  His fastball had more life to it last night than at any point during his 2-6 April and May, and sinker-ballers usually get more downward action on their pitches with a little fatigue.  That said, it would still be unwise to overwork Pelfrey in unnecessary situations, but lately he has been incredibly economical, throwing just 108 pitches in each of his last two starts.  He has been throwing strikes early in the count and getting hitters to put the ball in play.  It helps that the Mets' defense has been playing spectacularly over the last month or so, committing only four errors in the last 32 games.  With John Maine back on the shelf with a bone spur in his pitching shoulder, the Mets will need all they can get out of Pelfrey down the stretch.

Continue reading "Eighteen Innings And Counting..."

    Remember July 7, when the Mets nearly blew a 10-1 lead against the Phillies, and barely held on by the skin of their teeth to win 10-9?  Well last night was very similar--but not similar enough, because the main difference was that yesterday the Mets actually pulled off the monumental collapse that they were able to avoid on that July night.  Although the bullpen will probably take the most heat for this loss, every facet of the Mets' play was at fault last night.  The 8-7, 13-inning loss highlighted the Mets' three biggest problems throughout this season.

1)  Starters not going deep enough into games:  Lately this has not been as much of a problem because Jerry Manuel has been pushing his starters farther, and the rotation has simply been pitching well enough to warrant that kind of confidence.  But Pedro Martinez's horrendous five innings last night were unacceptable.  Pedro is a very important part of this team, especially now that John Maine is hurt again.  He tends to give up runs early, and then settle down, but when he loses steam, he loses it very quickly.  After working out of a jam in the first inning last night it seemed as if Pedro had found his groove, but he ran up his pitch count early and by the fifth inning was throwing batting practice.  If Pedro is healthy (and he says he is), he will need to give the Mets more quality innings going forward.  Five-inning starts expose a bullpen as unreliable as the Mets'.

Continue reading "Seven Runs: Too Little, Too Early"

    With two outs in the top of the eighth inning it looked like the Mets would leave Philadelphia last night with their collective tail between their legs.  Brad Lidge, who still hasn't blown a save all season, was warming up in the Phillies' pen, and the New York offense had only mustered two runs and 12 hits in the previous 16.2 innings, going back to the fifth inning of Tuesday's game.  But Carlos Delgado, who had homered in the sixth to cut Philly's lead to 3-2, sliced a liner over the left field fence to tie the game at three and spark the Mets's offense.  Carlos Beltran followed with an infield hit, and stole second.  With first base open, Brad Lidge walked Ryan Church intentionally, but Daniel Murphy made him pay, doubling down the right field line to bring home Beltran with the go-ahead run.  The hit parade continued with Brian Schneider's flare to left, which put the icing on the cake.  New York's four-run eighth inning clinched a two-game split in Philadelphia, and catapulted the Mets back into first place by a half game.

Continue reading "Delgado's Two Bombs Save The Day"