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In the New York Times, Ben Shpigel talks with Mike Pelfrey about his expectations for the upcoming season, and where the pitcher thinks he fits in.
Shpigel writes:
“If you have a lost year, it really doesn’t do you any good unless you learn from it.” So that is what Pelfrey started thinking about in early November, when he resumed working out at a Wichita Y.M.C.A., and he has not veered from that mantra since. Every day, as part of his mental preparation, Pelfrey said he tells himself: “This is my year. This is my year.”
Pelfrey, as quoted by Shpigel:
“I backed off and concentrated on my location and still walked four dudes a game. I need to rear back and get back to being myself and live off the fastball. If I walk four dudes now, I can live with it because I know that I’ll be pitching like myself, the way I know how to pitch.”
…i personally feel that pelfrey won’t receive the same amount of opportunities he had last year to show he belongs in the rotation unless he impresses the coaching staff very early on…now with santana leading the way, the competition between pelfrey and el duque for that fifth spot should be pretty fierce…
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Go get ‘em… dude
That’s right Pelf … that’s what we’ve been saying. Just throw the ball like you know how.
The team will be better off if Pelfrey is the 5 starter. Him winning the rotation spot means he is throwing great, and El Duque can give us very valuable innings out of the pen.
I just hope that Omar and Willie give him a chance to earn the spot, and don’t end up relying on El Duque too much, or he can let us down at the end of the year again..
What’s the difference in starting Pelfrey at the begining of the season because Elduque might get injured and starting Pelfrey when Elduque is injured? The fact that we get some great starts out of Elduque early. What if Pelfrey comes in an struggles and then Elduque has to come back into the rotation after being used in the pen?
You can’t hide Elduque, its not his arm falling off. He got injured in 06 warming up in the OF and you want to warm up even more each week?
Hernandez is not going to the pen. Minaya made that clear. He was our best pitcher going down the stretch last yr barring injury and besides the man takes too long to warm up. Have you ever seen the man prepare before a game? Pelfrey showed glimpses of brilliance last yr (Sept. 1 against the Braves) but he is still not ready. Another yr in AAA will do him good. Obviously when someone gets hurt, he’ll be the first one theyll call up, but as of now he needs to master is pitched down in NO… Oh and maybe a new mouth piece could do some good too..
Omar never said El Duque is not going to the pen, he guarded his words and said he is in the starting rotation for now.
As far as the strain on El Duque, he hurt himself just doing exercises in between starts – he’d be doing those even if he was in the bullpen.
I think if he’s in the pen, and not completely mismanaged (forced to throw every day) he’s more valuable throwing 80ip, and having more of a chance being available in the postseason.
I dont think the #5 spot should just be handed to Pelfrey either, it’s just I see a lot of promise in him and would love to see him develop into a very good pitcher.
Elduque gave us 150 great innings last year and you want him to throw half of that?
To me there is no competition. Unless Loshe or Livan are brought in then Elduque will and should be the #5 starter until injured. I am not sure why everyone is so ready to replace Elduque. Look at his stats. The man was a stud until injured. Yes he will get injured but you can’t hide that no matter where you put him. Imagine early on what kind of damage he can do from the #5 spot?
Pelfrey should be in AAA working on “becoming himself again” and know that someone will get injured and he will have 3 starts at the most to prove that he is ready for a full time gig next season.
well said.
According to FoxSports, Livan is going to the Twins.
Seriously – I’m all for gettting younger in the rotation…but el Duque was far & away the best pitcher on this staff… Maine might have won more games and Perez was more flashy… but El duque consistently shut people down – over and over again.. the guy is beyond clutch…he’s the perfect #5… Pelfrey should be in the pen…. Let him team with felicano & Heilman in the 6th – 7th role. His change of pace fastball will be devasting back there…
Don’t think we want Pelfrey in the pen. He will be needed to start sometime this season and I don’t think it is as easy as you guys suggest to just flip the switch and be a starter again on a momments notice.
Besides I think the pen is fine
Wagner, Heilman, Sanchez, Feliciano is as good of a core as anyone in the NL>
Very concerned that he is accepting walking four batters again. Does he think he will go 6 innings a game and allow only 4 hits as well? Those numbers would be a respectable 1.33 Whip. Not a great attitude. Cut down the walks. Period.
I think his point was that they changed his style to increase control and decrease walks and it did not work. It made his walks go up and SO go down. So maybe he just needs time to get things fixed. Sometimes Peterson I think out thinks himself.
I have to agree with your Peterson take… He has done a great job with a number of pitchers but I have to say Pelfrey has been a miss. Pelfrey has a great fastball, a good lively sinker, and a work in progress slider… I understand the logic as to why Peterson wants Pelfrey throwing the slider, and be a sinker slider guy, but in my honest opinion I think he would be better served going back to his curveball, giving him 3 different speeds then he can pitch more like a power pitcher rather then a sinkerballer who throws hard. There’s a guy in Boston makes a nice living with a fastball, sinker and curve, certainly not comparing the two, just pointing out that combination of pitches can work… Just my opinion of course.
Well it seems like Pelfrey is pretty lost. Yes you have a great fast ball, but you need more than that to survive in the bigs (unless your name is Doc Gooden). Pelf can’t walk “dudes” and he should not fool himself into thinking that is ok. I think his slider will improve with a second year of use. He should go down to the New Orleans and just work on his secondary offerings.
What he’s saying is that changing his style didn’t reduce the walks, just took away his strikeouts.
He should definitely stick to what he does best, and try to make it better. Walking 4 with your #1 pitch is better than walking 4 with your #2 – and if you can get it down to walking 2 with the #1 you’re set.
I was at Shea for Pelfrey’s frist game against the Astros and I was super-excited to see our new phenom. He got lit up in that game. In each of his following starts, he proceded to get lit up. My excitement for him waned shortly thereafter. He did, however, have a terrific September 07 and showed signs of what made him so highly touted in the minor leagues. I hope that this year he comes of age and really Eli Manning’s himself.
I don’t really care if Pelfry gets the 5th spot. I would like him to prove himself and get it, but if he doesn’t he’ll still get 15-20 starts this year pitching for an injured pedro or el duque. That’s assuming there’s not a major injury to one of those two (out for a month or more).
Though I don’t think any of us would be happy with 4 walks a game, even if he was pitching like himself. And I hope he doesn’t rely on his fastball too much…everyone in the show can hit a fastball.
I was just going to say that. As the 6th starter, Pelf will def get his fair share of starts. You can’t expect Pedro or Duque to go beyond 24 starts, since that was their max in recent years. Then you have to hope Santan, Maine and Perez can start app. 32 games, leaving 18 for Pelfrey and Co.
Hopefully, Pelfrey will listen to Peterson and keep his pitches low in the strike zone.
Pelfrey had a pretty good early spring training last year – then got crushed in his last couple of spring starts and his first few regular season games. You gotta figure that means that even if he impresses everyone in PSL this March, he’s destined to start in New Orleans, unless there’s an injury. I just hope he doesn’t bounce up and down with fill-in starts all year – he needs some solid time to develop somewhere.
Thank god we’re having this discussion about our #5 starter.
I certainly think Pelfrey can put up league average numbers as a #5. But it’s a problem of perception since the organization has been hyping him up as a #2 or if things went really well a #1. With Johan I think they can go back to treating Pelfrey with more care and maybe even groom him as a bullpen arm if he really can’t harness the control over 6-7 IP/90-105 PC.
But El Duque can put up above average numbers for a #5, heck he’s probably most teams in the NL’s #3 or #4. As long as the top 4 are doing their jobs I think the motley crew we have in AAA and the odd Jorge Sosa start is more than enough to eat the innings that El Duque will inevitably miss.
Duque, assuming he is healthy and pitching well in S, should be the number 5 (also assuming, of course, that #1-4 hold up!)
I think Pelfrey will have his break out year, and will be a rotation fixture by 2009. But, it still might be in his best interest to start the season at AAA. let him work on perfecting whatever he needs to (control, approach, slider/change).
Hopefully he pitches well in ST, gets squeezed out in a numbers game (good for the team), and then goes down and dominates in AAA. If so, he wil lbe back soon enough, and hopefully 100% ready to be in the rotation (mentally and “stuff” wise).
I used to think hernandez in the pen, but now realize that it could be a disaster. Best bet is to maximze the innings he gives you in the rotation. Basically just pitch him until he breaks down (if at all).
Hard to imagine it can happen, but it is possible that Pedro and Duque both hold together for the full season (getting their occassional rest by skipping a turn when the schedule allows), and Pelf has to spend all year (until Sept. call ups) in the minors.
As long as he kicks butt down in AAA, it might actually be the best scenerio for the Mets! It means that the rotation stayed healthy, and everyone pitched well enough to stay in it, but they still have someone ready to replace Duque in 2009.
Nice mantra but should be “Citi Field is mine in 09″.
if pelfrey gets his sinker working it would be almost impossible to hit him. he throws a heavy sinker which would balance out his lack of a good 3rd pitch in my opinion. i dont like comparing players but he could turn out to be derek lowe or a chim ming wag sinker ball type pitcher…
I think he’s better than Wang. His slider is actually better than Wang’s. He threw some nasty nasty sliders in that Braves game. They looked like vintage Smoltz sliders actually. He has the stuff to be a stud, a perfect #2 behind Santana in 2 or 3 years.
Elduque is not only a great #5, if healthy guys he is #1/2 level.
Look at his stats, only 5 starters in the NL had a lower WHIP (1.15) Those were Peavy, Young, Hamels, Harang, and Lilly. Out of those only Young had a lower BAA. Elduque’s was .206, Young’s .192.
We are incredilbly lucky to view Elduque as a #5 when in reality he may be our #3 and Perez/Maine our #5.
We all know that Pedro and especially El Duque will miss some starts. Pelfrey will start in New Orleans and still make close to 20 starts. He is a great luxury for a team to have. In 2006 our 6th starter was Jose Lima.
If the Mets can get one good year down in New Orleans for Pelfrey, I think that would be great and I think he’ll learn alot and how far along he is in his progress. That could also determine what the Mets could do with Perez or Martinez as well.
Atta boy Mike. There is a reason Omar wouldn’t give up on this guy. I really feel like Pelfrey is going to have a big impact on our team this season, especially since El Duque is about as durable as plywood.
http://www.bigapplesports.net
I said it before and i’ll keep saying it until i’m blue in the face, but the Mets did him such a disservice by rushing him to the bigs two years ago and not giving him time to develop. The Mets do not need him in NY. He should be down in the minors for more seasoning so when he comes back up , he is ready to stay.
I can’t imagine how so many people are on this Pelfrey kick. I saw him pitch against the Devil Rays in Tampa last year in the final spring training game before opening day and I swear that I could have pitched better. I think he gave up like 11 runs in 3 innings or something. Bottom line is, everyone seems to think he’s going to be great…why? Is it because he is a “top prospect?” That doesn’t guarantee a player will be good. I just watched every game he pitched last year and I wanted to cry. When he pitched, the Mets lost, it’s that simple. He needs a good 2 years down in AAA to “develop,” and even then he might still suck, there is no guarantee. I say lean on El Duque for that 5th spot, makes for a sweet rotation if you ask me.
What about that game against Atlanta when he went 6 innings striking out 7 and only giving up 1 hit? Did you want to cry watching him pitch that game?
You are right, he did have that one good game. But let’s face it, one game out of all his starts?? That’s not exactly a good sign. I mean you could say the same thing about Brian Lawrence, he had one or 2 decent starts too, but I think we’d all agree he is worthless. I’m not saying Pelfrey is worthless, but I’m just not ready to call him the next Tom Seaver. He could just as easily be the next Kris Benson or someone like that.
I’m with miker94. Pelfry stunk last year, pure and simple. Like he said: “When Pelfry pitched the Mets lost”
He was as bad as Lima, except in the Atlanta game. OK maybe he can continue to build on that but in AAA not in place of El Duque who pitched lights out last year. Besides, El Duque has pitched much much more as a starter and not much as a reliever. Additionally, He can hurt himself much more easily warming up three to four times a week as a reliever. Plus El Duque is a notoriously slow starter as a starter. Not a good thing for a relief pitcher.
I hope Pelfry develops a change up in AAA next year but his quote leads me to believe that he is not going to listen to the coaches next year and will go with his fastball. Dangerous. I hope I’m wrong. Still why should we think otherwise until he consistently shows the “stuff” and control he had in the Atlanta game?
Those are scary comments to me. He doesn’t credit Peterson with the different attitude, so I read into Pelfrey’s comments that he’s had it with the coaching and he’s going to go back to what was successful for him in the past (between the lines: before my current coaches messed me up).
It is possible for Master Rick to be wrong once in a while. Pelfrey was very successful doing things his way- when he changed his approach he sucked. In Sept last year he changed back to his old way of doing things and was much better than the begining of the year.
I still think theres reason to think he could be okay as our 5th starter at the end of this year (read- end, as in after Duque gets hury).
True, Peterson the Wizard can be wrong, but I’m not a fan of pitchers acting as their own pitching coach. Especially ones who haven’t succeeded at the major league level.
Yea but peterson and a lot of other coaches were wrong about heilman. i could never understand why they wanted to change that guy’s delivery so much. geez what a coincidence that when he goes back to his old delivery he looks that much better!
i also noticed that after the atlanta game he was just blazing the ball down the middle. he would have had better numbers had the nationals not seen him two times in a row.
also i got the sense that pelfrey looked a lot like maine did his first year. you could see potential but both guys looked unsure of themselves. once maine got his confidence up in the playoffs (Game 6 NLCS) he was great last year. pelfrey just needs to get his head straight.
bottom line: the guy has an awful lot of potential. however, due to the fact that el duque can not warm up or takes years doing it, pelfrey will start in AAA and get the call up when hernandez takes his month long vacation some time in June.
*btw whoever mentioned that they like pelfrey’s slider better than wang’s i couldn’t agree more. wang’s slider is extremely pedestrian and is usually what does him in. if you saw the game in atlanta the slider looked absolutely filthy. get that together with a top 95 sinker low in the zone and you’re going to be very, very good.