If they can get to the 12th with a rested pen I would try to make it through that day with a Sosa led pen by committe. Save Figueroa for when we know Duque is shot and he can hold down the 5th spot for a while.

Sosa will likely pitch the 2-3 critical mid-late innings whenever the 5th starter starts, and he can still pitch a day or two in between in short relief. It makes a good case to keep him in the pen.

In the interim, it could get a little hairy. I just don’t think Pelfrey is ready for prime time. In fact, I don’t know if he will ever make it as a big league starter. I see Jason Isringhausen or Rick Aguilera all over again–a guy that shows a lot of promise but just can’t string together some victories. He’s going to be a decent set-up guy or closer some day, but a starter he ain’t.

I think the best options to replace El Duque and Pedro in the rotation for now are Sosa, Heilman, and Figueroa. It really kills the bullpen’s effectiveness, however, to move Sosa or Heilman out of it. I think that Pelfrey can be groomed into the Heilman role, and when or if Sanchez ever returns, he will help that situation as well, but Sosa is just so versatile. You can use him as a long guy or a situational righty, he’s got a rubber arm, and can legitimately hit. Figueroa seems like a good stop-gap option for the short term. He pitched brilliantly in the winter. I think he’s definitely good enough to be a bottom-of-the-rotation guy for the remainder of this season if need be.

I imagine that Figueroa will probably be the guy they stick in there at first, but if both Pedro and El Duque are gone for any extended period of time, they’re going to have to fiddle with the bullpen a little. Hopefully Sanchez will be ready by then.

I’m really not sold on Pelfrey though as a solution. I think they’d be better off swapping him in the bullpen for Sosa or Heilman, but you can’t really blame Willie or Omar for giving him every chance to prove himself. Personally, though, I think he’s already proven he’s not going to develop into a reliable starter. I’d rather send him back to AAA when Sanchez returns and have him work on pitching in relief with an eye to bringing him back up in September as a set-up man. Who knows… if he has success in that role, another team may want him as their closer and maybe we can get a starting pitcher in return. There’s just not a whole lot of good pitching out there.

Pedro isn’t going to miss more than 2/3 starts and Sosa will be in the frame to step up in the meantime.

Sosa is much better than Pelf and if he wins a couple of games I see Pelf being demoted. El Duque would take the 5th starter job or more likely the long mans role in the bullpen.

Look how wrong you were (LOL)

He sure would look good now

Ex-Mets: Julio Franco has signed with the Tigres de Quintana Roo to play first base in Cancun.

I dont think they will move Santana from Sunday because he’s been planning for that day. And Pelfrey has been planning for Sat.

Of course it means Pelfrey faces the Phillies and Santana the Brewers, but who’s to know if that is a good or bad thing so early in the season.