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In a post to his blog for the New York Post, citing a team source, 
Bart Hubbuch explains why Orlando Hernandez is likely to be the team’s fifth starter, not Mike Pelfrey.
…this is fine by me, as long as el duque is healthy…whatever that means for him…
…pelfrey needs more work in the minor leagues…more to the point, he needs to get it together, get aggressive, and show some fight…the kid has so much talent, yet looks and plays so passive…
…meanwhile, as i said the other day, if he’s ‘healthy,’ el duque has earned the right to do his annual magic show…and so, until he fails or gets hurt, it’s his show…while pelfrey keeps throwing and working in new orleans…
Hernandez and Pelfrey are each scheduled to pitch tomorrow against the Orioles.
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The only way El Duque should be in this team’s rotation is if they become a softball team.
“pelfrey has so much talent…”
how does a guy who only has one effective major league pitch have “so much talent?”
because he’s 6′ 7″ and was taken #9? he sucks.
YES!!!!!!!! ONE PITCH PELFREY!!!!!
Why can’t we sign Jeff Weaver to a one year deal? He’s healty, eats innings, and is looking for a job. Let’s face it, he’s a better option than anything we have now. Put El Duque in the bullpen (or just leave him in Florida with the rest of the elderly), and let Pelfrey develop in the minors. Thoughts?
I like 2/3 of this. Just leave out Weaver, and find someone that doesn’t suck as bad!
Yeah, Weaver is really awful. Better to go with a four man rotation than sign Weaver!!!!
(Kidding folks, relax, relax.)
i would even take weaver. i have actually seen him pitch well at times. as long as it is not vargas. i ave seen him suck too many times. omar and his former amigos. i am sick of it.
Interview with Phillies Nation at http://www.metsprospectus.blogspot.com
I went to the Phillies Nation blog. There’s like 3 people that go there.
What do you mean? I checked how the sites doing and it’s gotten over 32 million views since created. Not near Metsblog’s level, but not shabby.
Anybody can rig a counter.
Look at the number of comments after each post. Right now the highest number of comments on any post is 11. I think some of us have that many on every Metsblog post.
That’s because no one in Philly knows how to use a computer.
The stupidest sports fans in America.
In defense of that site.. your comparing possibly the BEST sports site on the internet, to a regular site. Comments aren’t everything. I guess you want to say he “rigged” the counter ,but w.e, he makes money and enjoys doing it, so I don’t think we should judge.
Dude, if you want to shill for PhilliesNation on Metsblog, you have every right to do so. Similarly, I enjoy a right to offer a snarky opinion about the site. Free country, remember?
for now, okay. but if this team had any brains they would try to get something for him and quick. he is 50 years old, will break down for a third year in september. how many kicks in the face do you take before you do something about it?
i think the 5th starter really comes down whether either of them pitch well in this game. if you dont they have both lost it
I dont like Pelfrey. He’s mentally weak. I say we should trade him before people realize he sucks as bad as he does. I dont even care if he excels somewhere else, just get him off the squad (a la Kaz Matsui). I’ll take El Duque’s guts and guile over Pelfrey’s “potential” every day of the week…..or every 5th day as the case should be…..
People already realize, it’s too late.
i dont want to trade pelfrey but i hate to break it to you, everyone realizes he sucks (at least now he does). i mean the twins preferred a guy thats had tommy john surgery over pelfrey, what does that tell you.
No. The Mets never offered Pelfrey. Twins would have preferred Pelfrey but you can’t take what you aren’t offered.
The Mets never offered Martinez either but the twins made it clear they would prefer a deal with him. As far as I understand the twins scouts valued Humber over Pelfrey.
Absolutely, Gina. You’ve been paying attention. The Twins scouts preferred Humber. It was stated in more than one media outlet.
In a perfect world, the Mets would’ve used Spring Training to gear towards El Duque being the one inning setup man, Aaron Heilman being the 5th starter, and Pelfrey told al ready he’s AAA bound and being given the luxury to work his offspeed stuff out for another full season without dangling a premature MLB rotation spot in his face all the time. Heilman being in the rotation is now 3 years overdue.
Amen. There is a huge double standard with Heilman and Pelfrey.
How fast do you think Heilman runs when he officially is a FA… bc someone will make him a SP
He’s already gone. He will run faster than Jose.
honestly the people who come here and say he should move from the pen are completely clueless. hes one of if not the best middle reliever in the national league and has been for about 3 years and youd rather him go start where he will be underwhelming and probably in the end contribute less to this team winning all because you remember him throwing 1 good game against the marlins. the guy has 2 pitches, and his fastball would not be as fast if he started, hes very effective when you see him once a game not 3 or 4 times.
Heilman needs to understand that he has 2 choices, be a Great relief pitcher on a winning team or be a mediocre starter on a bad one. It’s his choice to make. I would hope if he continues to pitch well that we make him a mid-season contract offer, even if we need to overpay for a quote Set up guy, with the understanding that he is pitching the 7th or 8th inning. I doubt he will take it though as some team will pay him even more to experiment with making him a starter. It really would be a shame.
Exactly, HTWZ. Other teams see what he does as a setup guy, and that’s what they want him to do if he was with their team(s). If he were to throw his slider more, thus showcasing his third pitch more than once a month, he might have a foundation to build a case on (for him starting). Otherwise, he comes out of the pen.
HTWZ, You’re right. I’m clueless.
Heilman’s got 2 pitches as you pointed out. How many does Pelfrey have?
And you’re also right about the 1 hitter Heilman threw against the Marlins. It was only 1 great game. How many great games did Pelfrey have? I seem to remember this one game against the Braves last year that everyone talks about. Were there any others?
The only arguement I bring to the table … why the double standard? I can’t figure out the double standard, you know … being clueless and all.
You can’t compare Heilman’s tenure as a starter to tenure as a reliever because when he first started for the Mets he was pitching straight over the top (the Mets minor league staff — in their infinite wisdom — changed his motion from 3/4 motion that he had in college).
After Rick Peterson had Heilman drop his arm back down to 3/4 again, that’s when he began to have success at the ML level. The following spring, 2005, he battled Bannister for the 5th spot in the rotation. He beat out Bannister in my opinion (both had great springs though), but the Mets thought only 2 pitches weren’t enough for Heilman to succeed as a starter, notwithstanding his great spring numbers.
I think Heilman can be great as our 5th starter in the rotation. i hope the Mets give him his shot. Maybe when (if?) Duaner comes back healthy?
I know a few years back Heilman said that he wanted to be a starter and Mike and the Mad Dog continue to say that he will bolt as soon as he gets a chance because he still does, but has he said anything like that in a long time? I can’t remember reading one quote from him voicing any sort of anger towards being a releiver. But I know it’s not like the NY media to keep putting words in someone’s mouth.
I like Inge a lot.
Was Francesca serious when he said Inge is a better 3bagger then Wright?
Probably, he likes him a lot…
Wright going 40/40 this year…where is that talk?
He said something about it last spring. I vaguely remember reading an article about it.
He’ll probably bolt to the Yankees, because he probably dreamed of being a Yankee like every little boy does. Especially one fat little Mickey Mantle-and-twinkie-loving little lad named Michael Francesa.
He still wants to start. They ALL want to start.
Urgh… you take a proven 8th inning setup man and cross your fingers that he can transition into a starter (obviously his arm’s not at all stretched out so you also lose time while that happens)
You take a career starter with no statistically significant bullpen experience and cross your fingers that he can transition into a reliever, despite the fact that we all know he takes forever to warm up.
You reduce the value of both players by taking them out of the roles in which they have proven themselves and throwing them into ones in which they have not.
Not good baseball sense.
By the way, if Heilman would be so easy to turn into a starter, how come he sucked so much whenever he was asked to pitch two innings? The club was desperate for a reliever who could get more than 3 or 4 outs per appearance… how come he didn’t prove he could be that guy so he could at least say ‘try me in the rotation, I’m not just a one-inning pitcher’?
Stop it with that completely logical, realistic post!!!!
It’s all raw emotional commentary sprinkled with fits of questionable thinking around here!
In fairness, the original poster used the words, “would’ve used spring training” when referring to making Heilman a starter. He didn’t say, “hey lets make him a starter right now”.
Why talk about value? Heilman has value, yeah. They aren’t going to trade him though, under any circumstances. They are going to keep him in the pen until he’s a free agent … then he’ll be gone, regardless. His value is a non issue.
Pelfrey hurts his own value every time he goes out there and pitches … whether he starts games or not. His value is already very low. Also a non issue.
Why didn’t Heilman prove he could be a starter? I don’t know … why if Pelfrey’s one pitch more worthy of being a starter than Heilman’s two pitches that weren’t enough to be a starter, according to the Mets?
Pelfrey throws a fastball … yet he’s a starter, when Heilman’s 2 quality pitches aren’t enough to be a starter. Hmm.
Heilman’s was a career starter converted to a one inning man. He’s young enough and certainly has the heart and desire to have stretched it back out to starter status given the full of spring training. Now may be too late, unless the Mets go with 4 starters to begin the season.
El Duque is old and brittle. His past as a career starter means little now that he is a platoon starter and platoon DL victim. When he’s healthy, he can roll out of bed and start spotting his frisbees for strikes. He does have a rubbery arm, just a glass toe and other other assorted body parts. His transition to the bullpen would be seemless and would stregthen his longevity over the full haul of a season
If Braden Looper could do it, I’m sure Heilman can.
The poster who started this debate was onto something, but he should have been talking about Sosa instead of Heilman.
Sosa gave them a month plus of great starting, then he lost it. I would think RP could find a way for Sosa to reclaim his recent success as a starter enough to be the 5th starter on this team. Yet they come into ST with no plan to make him a starter despite not really needing him as a short reliever. Complete oversight by all involved on the Sosa front.
And making Figueroa a short reliever in the last couple weeks of ST when the other 5th starters are opening the door is at the least questionable. Is he deemed so poor as a starter that he is behind ‘null’ on the depth chart?
Nate
I’m not sure but I would think it’s because he hasn’t had any real rest to his arm. He’s gone from pitching in the mexican league, to pitching in the caribbean series, to pitching in the chinese league, to spring training with the Mets. He has shown that he could probably start as the 5th man but how long will he be able to last? Maybe this is something that has crossed their minds. Maybe they think he could last longer and help more if he didnt pitch as many innings as a starter would. It’s just conjecture on my part, but it does seem like a possible reason.
If the Mets had been smart enough to take a guy with Heilman’s makeup and make a quality reliever out of him sooner, we might have something to show for Generation K yet….
Que?
You’re an asshat. Look at Heilman’s stats as a starter. He is much more valuable in the bullpen. I am so sick of idiots talking about Heilman being a starter. I guess you think the Beatles will get back together too.
el duque was very good last year. he should be the #5 starter with either pelfrey or sosa starting when he’s on vacation.
it’s really less important this year since el duque doesn’t matter in the playoffs if the rest of the rotation is healthy.
We need pelfrey to be decent we could lose pedro and perez next year. It would be nice to have pitcher from the farm on this team.
Can anyone name a starting pitcher in the last 15 years that came up from the mets farm system to start 30+ games 3 seasons in a row for the mets?
Bobby Jones? just a guess.
CORRECT! 4 seasons of 30+ games actually.
Bobby Jones started 30+ games for 4 straight years for the Mets. But I get your point. Forget about even producing semi-mediocre major leaguers. Going back to 1987, the first year Fred Wilpon was the managing owner of the Mets, it’s hard to name many touted Mets born and bred pitching prospects who even escaped this organization without their arms falling off in the minors or soon after.
Huh? Fred Wilpon has been managing partner of the Mets since 1980, and he didn’t buy out Doubleday until around 2002. Let’s not manipulate facts to make points – if you don’t think Wilpon presided over the 80s Mets, you are flat wrong.
That said, he’s an owner, and it was Cashen who built, then detroyed, those teams.
Since 1987, the most successful major league pitchers to come out of the Mets system appear to be Randy Myers, Kevin Tapani, Bobby Jones, Jason Isringhausen, Octavio Dotel, Aaron Heilman, and Scott Kazmir.
Ouch.
Aguilera had a very nice career and although he may have thrown 50-60 innings in 86, i dont think he blossomed until 87 or 88.
Jae Seo came close, how sad is that…
geez, what does wally whitehurst need to do to get some respect on metsblog?
Only 13 pitchers have ever had 3+ seasons of 30+ starts.
Jackson (62-65)
Fischer (64-67)
Matlack (72-76)
Koosman (73-78 – and 68,69)
SEAVER (67-76)!!!
Darling (84-89)
Fernandez (88-92 – and 86)
Doc (84-86 – and 88.90,92)
Cone (89-91)
BOBBY JONES (95-98)
Leiter (02-04)
Trax (02-04 – and 06)
Glavine (03-07)
BTW, we had NONE in 80-82. 79-83 was a rough time, man!
steve phillips pick the mets to win the division and go to the world series. he’s finally over the bitterness. thanks for reyes and wright :)
sports.espn.go.com/mlb/preview08/team?team=nym
Heilman too I think.
you’re right
from that espn link
PITCHER TO WATCH:
Stephen Register, a Rule 5 pick from Colorado, is a dark horse to make the roster; he’s a sinker/slider guy who doesn’t get as many groundballs as he should, but he has good control and could pitch in a lot of bullpens.
guess omar doesnt have an “insider” subscription (sarcasm, please the people who think im serious when i say things like this, its a joke)
This is crazy, ED is hurt and throwing slop. Pelfrey is being Pelfrey. We are NOT desperate for a 5th starter until the 12th, giving Pedro a day off is a luxury we can’t afford so early – he won’t need a day off yet anyway.
Yet, we are determined to give the 5th spot in the rotation to one guy throwing slop or the other who gives up 13 hits in four innings.
Crazy.
whats the word with Johan’s first home game??? I am a season Ticket holder but I usually sell off most of the season. I will definitely be going to my boys first home game though. Is it supposed to be the 10th or the 12th??? Or is it still unknown???
NY tradition says your ace pitches Sunday afternoon in the team’s pinstripes; so the 13th is a strong consideration.
I’ll be there and I’m hopin’
I think the tradition is to follow your rotation.
That means the 12th.
Its a little early to be fiddling with the rotation now cutting rest periods down etc. In the long run it is more important that Pedro stays healthy through the year and if this helps to get us there than we will have to deal with a couple of subpar starts.
That said, the horse is already out of the barn with converting Heilman to the rotation. No way you can stretch Heilman out to be a starter by next week, so it comes down to Pelfrey, Duque and Figueroa. Only one of them has had any success in the major leagues and thats El Duque so he wins by default unless a trade comes along.
Just give Pelfrey a shot. Yes, he’s sucked, but he should get the opportunity to pitch every fifth day for a prolonged period before he gets discarded for a guy who throws 75 mph. I don’t care what El Duque did in the playoffs with the Yankees, for the Mets, he’s disappeared whenever they’ve needed him most. If I were Willie and El Duque was giving me guff for putting him in the bullpen, I’d tell him to kiss my ass and threaten to send him back to Cuba on the Queen Mary that he sailed in on.
we should just sign friggin Freddy Garcia…even if he comes back and is OK for half a season, at least he can contribute next season when he’s only 31 or 32…and lessen the blow when duque and OP are gone ANDDDD if pelfrey still cant turn the corner
ps–we should just signed Mench in the off season
Mench?
you mean Loshe?
I say tomatoe, you say tamato
might have meant Mench too. It would certainly have eliminate any chance of Tatis making the team!
no, i might kevin mench. Cuz i dont want Tatis on my team. He KINDA proved himself this year, and maybe we’re lookin at a NEW “the stache” for 08…but still..i think Mench woulda been great on this team..i think he can play a lil 1b too
meant*
I keep on reading that the 5th spot in the rotation will be settled when El Dugue is healthy. I’m not sure if these people believe that bunions mysteriously disappear or the issue can be solved by Dr. Scholls’ Gel Pads. I spoke with a Podiatrist and was informed that if the pain from the bunion has reached the stage it apparently has with El Dugue then without corrective surgery El Dugue’s bunion will continue to be a painful problem in more ways than one. So without surgery It’s a question of whether or not El Dugue can eventually be effective with his new motion and diminished velocity. Only time will tell.
we should know real soon if Duque is going to be able to pitch with the bad foot.
Forget about his stuff and control for a minute, but another 2-3 starts will hopefully prove that he can take the pressure of pitching off the bunion. And of course, if he can gain some “stuff” back with the new motion.
I still think Pelfrey should be in AAA for at least 1/2 this year. But, unless they use Sosa (or Duque hits the DL and they use Figgy), Duque is holding them hostage for adding an outsider for the rotation. Unless it is someone that can and will go to the minors.
Who knows, maybe Duque will feel great and take a giant step forward tomorrow. Or maybe he will crumple in pain and be shut down for a long time.
EIther way, it would be nice if his situation got resolved.
Hey Matt I have a question? Where has this stiff earned it? Where has he been when the Mets have needed him the last 2 years? He’s throwing softballs. Pelfrey should be the guy. His upside is way better. He needs confidence and should have been the guy on Feb 15th.
When has Pelfrey earned it? He’s blown every chance he’s gotten.
Pelfrey is just too young. He needs some of maine’s development. Everyone was down on maine before too for, surprise, walking hitters and not locating his stuff. Look how he matured. Give the kid some time. He has a better fastball/sinker than maine, just needs to grow up a bit. I know we expect a lot on this board and as fans overall, but we need to wait, let him grow up and then see. He’s got the frame and the stuff to be very good. As much as you want people to mature quickly, you just cant expect it to happen the same way for everyone. I’m not a huge pelfrey fan, but he has shown glimpses of dominating stuff (braves last year).
I agree, but also think that the best thing for him and the Mets, long term, is if he could go to AAA for at least 3 months, and really concentrate on getting all his pitches, location, and head together, so when he finally comes back up, it can be for good, and more successful.
Well, I guess we should know in the next few days, but I am getting real curious if Omar is going to pull off a move before the rosters get set? Maybe not a blockbuster, but quite possibly something surprising?
Some of the proposals bandied about recently would be nice upgrades (Murton, maybe with Marquis, Morales), but of course it always depends on what goes back.
Somehow, I just don’t think this is the team we go North (well, south in this case) with. But only Omar really knows, and he may not even know yet!
I don’t know whether or not this was flagged but former Mets prospect Justin Huber was acquired by the Padres from the Royals for the famous PTBNL and cash considerations. The Kansas City Star’s Bob Dutton wrote about Huber:
Even the Royals’ need for some right-handed power couldn’t overcome Justin Huber’s inability to master a defensive position.
The Royals traded Huber to San Diego this afternoon for a player to be named later. The deal came one day after Huber smoked a two-run pinch double against the Padres in an 8-4 victory.
“For us, the way our club was shaping up,” general manager Dayton Moore said, “we just didn’t see the opportunity for him to be on our team. He’s out of options, and I really wish we had more time.
“He had a terrific spring, and we think he’s going to be a good hitter. It just didn’t work out.”
Huber, 25, has been viewed as one of the organization’s top prospects since being acquired June 30, 2004 from the Mets. He won the Class AA Texas League batting title in 2005 and was picked that year as the most valuable player in the All-Star Futures Game.
The lack of a defensive position hampered Huber’s development. He was a catcher when acquired from the Mets but shifted to first base because of a knee injury. Huber struggled at first base and fared little better after shifting in 2006 to left field.
Huber spent small parts of the last three seasons in the big leagues. He batted .346 this spring with nine hits in 26 at-bats in 15 games.
Given the Padres track record in such transactions it will probably work out well for them. Offensively he would have been what the doctor ordered for the Mets.
If El Duque is our #5 we are in great shape. The reason he is our 5 is because we don’t expect him to make all of his starts. He will come around, he had a late start so I’m not too worried about it.
If he doesn’t come around we will have someone else fill the role and we will make a deal at that point.
Pelfrey learning the ropes is the best case scenario right now. He isn’t ready to pitch in the bigs yet. We have other major league arms working for us plus we may develop a couple of others along the way.
Unfortunately, this is the third straight year that we have had questions on our #5. I just wish we could have it fixed before the season started.
we’ll know at 1pm tomorrow if gotay was claimed off waiver.
ron darling is doing the sunday games for tbs meaning sunday mets broadcasts will take a big step back
If he needs to travel to a Sunday game, the Saturday casts will be hurt, as well.
Actually, I would gladly let him go if he could keep McCarver off the airwaves.
i don’t know if this has been addressed to date on metsblog but does anyone know where I can get one of those flashy new orange Mets shirt that says Enough and has the picture of the clown. Delgado and Castro were wearing them. Thanks.
Can you be our 5th starter?
Both of them get their last chance tomorrow.
How easy you all forget…
Maybe it’s just me, but I’m pretty sure Heilman was a precursor to Pelfrey. See: highly drafted prospect who STUNK as a starter, despite a wealth of opportunities.
The thing to learn here is not that Heilman should start, but that Pelfrey should relieve. If he goes down the same road as Heilman (becomes a stellar bullpen arm who can go multiple innings) we’ll be in very nice shape. Time to admit that starting isn’t Pelfrey’s calling.
Be fair. Heilman had far from a “wealth” of opportunites. He had a couple of trials at a fairly young age (at least in his pro career), with mixed success, and got shifted to the pen. Plus, there was the whole arm angle change.
Don’t make it out like he spent 2 full seasons pitching like Anthony Young!
Between 2003 and 2004, he appeared in 20 games. If you divide his innings pitched by his games, you get about 5 innings per game. I think it’s safe, then, to say that he started during those games, as I don’t remember offhand and have to rely on these stats.
Now, his ERA during those years were 6.75 and 5.46, respectively. That is horrible. No other way to spin it. In fact, that’s distinctly worse than what Pelfrey has posted so far.
20 games. That’s a wealth of opportunities. And aside from that one game against the Marlins, he was horrific. He had his chance, and please don’t site his age, because it’s just as much a factor for Pelfrey as it was for Heilman. No double standards, please.
20 games is still not a lot for a SP to prove anything. There have been plenty of guys that have had very good careers that have stunk up the joint in their first year, and 20 games is about 2/3 of a full year.
I can’t get to stats from here, but Glavine for one was horrific. Even Maine took a few tries before he got it right!
ANd, he is NOT the same pticher as he was then, so how can you assume that 20 iffy games (OK, 19 iffy, one great) 5-6 years ago means that he couldn’t start today?
just shove El Duque there already who cares he is going to get hurt even if he does do good – 2006 playoffs he got hurt which paved the way for Maine and OP to win rotation spots. You can’t take Heilman out of the bullpen. Just harp on the fact that no Jose Lima or Brian Lawrence will be marching out for the Mets. The fifth starter may not even be on the roster right now, could be Garcia, Figuerora, or even Vargas if he is healthy. All I know is I really hope that Gotay clears waivers cause Castillo is going to get injured and Easley is gettin up there in years.
Oo and wikipedia can confirm the Heilman Situation
Heilman has pitched poorly as a starting pitcher, posting an ERA of 5.93 as a starter for 2003, 2004 and the beginning of 2005. [1] He was converted to a relief pitcher for the rest of 2005 and excelled with an ERA of only 2.18. However, Heilman’s finest game came as a starter on April 15, 2005, when he made a start in place of the injured Kris Benson and pitched a one-hit complete game shutout.
In the second half of the 2005 season, he held a 0.68 ERA, tops in the league.
But that’s not the complete story re Heilman.
You can’t compare Heilman’s tenure as a starter in 2003 and 2004 to his tenure as a reliever in 2005 because when he started for the Mets those two years he was pitching straight over the top (the Mets minor league staff — in their infinite wisdom — changed his motion from 3/4 motion that he had in college).
After Rick Peterson had Heilman drop his arm back down to 3/4 again, that’s when he began to have success at the ML level. The following spring, 2005, he battled Bannister for the 5th spot in the rotation. He beat out Bannister in my opinion (both had great springs though), but the Mets thought only 2 pitches weren’t enough for Heilman to succeed as a starter, notwithstanding his great spring numbers. And he spent ‘05 in the bullpen and did a great job their too.
I think Heilman can be great as our 5th starter in the rotation. i hope the Mets give him his shot. Maybe when (if?) Duaner comes back healthy?
just got back from Orlando and a day of Mickey and the Mets. Overall, we had a great time, though we baked out on the lawn a bit. Was hoping for a couple of starters, but we really enjoyed watching the B team beat up on the Braves pitcher, Johnny Wholestaff (though the scorecard was messy.)
The crowd was almost half Mets fans, which was nice, and we had a couple of Lets Go Mets chants drown out the Braves “fans” few attempts at cheering for their team. I got some great pictures from right over the bullpen of Ollie, Joe Smith, and Rincon, I’ll try to post them tomorrow somewhere that everyone can see.
I was glad to see Ollie pitching into the 7th, especially after the spill he took to end the 6th (was it as bad as it looked from the outfield?) Joe Smith looked pretty terrible at first, but settled down nicely. Church had a nice day, and Casanova’s HR was crushed. Marlon Anderson also was killing the ball today.
Champion field is nice, but the staff sucked .. they kept telling us to sit down when we were trying to take pictures, and telling kids not to play with their baseballs, and lame stuff like that. The lawn wrapped all the way from the third base dugout to left center field, and was packed when we got there a half hour before game time. I can’t wait for a real game now, that just whetted my appetite. We’ll be headed to Turner field for Santana vs. Smoltz a week from Sunday .. yeehaw :)
Come on let’s be honest Mike Pelfrey will end up in the 5th spot whether El Duque likes it or not because Hernandez will get hurt. Pelfrey is young and a future starter in the rotation El Duque can not get by with a 84 MPH fastball.
I wouldn’t be surprised if El Duque gets up near 87 or so today. He’ll be closer to 90 than 80.
Also, I seem to remember that Tom Glavine got by with a fastball that was closer to 80 than 90 for a while. Yeah, he’s a lefty, and he was harder-headed than Hernandez, but he survived.
With all due respect to Matt, he keeps writing that “el duque has earned the right”. Hey Matt, he earned the right w/Yankees. For us he’s pitched extremely well but absolutely destroyed us 2 years in a row w/injuries. So pardon me if i’m not so willing to give duque his “earned right” so quickly. If he’s the 5 so be it, but he should be on the same short leash that Pelfrey or Figueroa would have been on. I mean seriously here’s a guy who shows up and dictates that’s he’s a starter-that’s it, meanwhile he’s not even healthy. U think he had the nerve to dictate to the CWS in ‘05 that he was only a starter when he was hanging on to his ML career by his fingernails-PLEASE!
Sorry Matt, you know I totally respect your opinion but how anyone would be happy for Duque to be the 5th man in the rotation is out of his freaking gourd dude! Pelfrey is the future – sending him to AAA to work on his “stuff” isn’t going to do anything but damage his head, which is basically the only thing keeping him away from the majors. let him take his licks with the big boys. Last year he was thrust into a lose-lose situation, with no Pedro, an aging Glavine, not to mention Duque not being able to stay healthy and a young Maine and Pea. who were the saving grace. This just perpetuates the myth about this team not caring about young guys. Duque is lucky he has a contract with any team. I think he should just man up and retire already, the dude is already like 73. NEXT!
the only problem is, you can’t really let a young guy “take his lumps” on a conteder, since you might risk missing the post season. Much easier on a crappy team like the Pirates, that isn’t winning anything anyway!
So it will always be a balancing act between getting the young guys the experience they need in the show, vs. winning games. That’s why a run away year like 2006 is nice, you can experiment more.
Finally, Duque is getting paid, and I think they want to run his carcass out there until he breaks down, to try and get some use out of him.
Best case, he pitches OK until say end of June, with Plef dominating AAA, and then when Duque finally falls apart for the year, Pelf is ready to step in.
FireIsiah – your comments are beyond well said – you absolutely hit it on the head.