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In last night’s win against the Nationals, Mike Pelfrey allowed no runs and five hits through seven innings while striking out four and walking just two.
He is the first pitcher on the staff to win two games.
…as i wrote last night, his fastball had a ton of life and a lot of 
late zip, which he utilized in tough spots to get out of trouble…such as in the third, when he struck out Ryan Zimmerman and Nick Johnson with the bases loaded…what’s more, he just went after hitters, which is exactly what so many of us claimed had been missed from his game…last night, it was not…all in all, a much-needed, nice-step start for the young pelfrey…
Pelfrey, on his performance, talking to media after the game:
“I feel like every time I go out there I feel more comfortable. You know, I’m getting confidence. Another thing is, Brian Schneider, i think he’s done a great job back there coaching me through it…Of course, every body wants to have a good year, and I just think going through what I went I went through last year – even though the results didn’t always show it – I felt like I was getting better. I felt like I put a lot of work in to it this off-season, and I feel like I am more focused and more confident.”
David Wright, on Pelfrey, talking to media after the game:
“I think every one in here knows Pelfrey has that in him. I love his stuff, he’s starting to get that swagger and that confidence to him…When he gets on a roll and pounds the strike zone he’s pretty unhittable.”
Meanwhile, in a report for SNY.tv, Ted Berg explains how Pelfrey’s performance quieted the booing Mets fans, writing:
“No one knows what Wednesday holds for the Mets, and no one can say whether the boo birds will fly back toward Shea. But on Tuesday, Mike Pelfrey made like a 6-foot-7 scarecrow and frightened those foul fowl away. In the game’s waning moments, the fans who braved the cold and the mediocre start to the season stood and cheered.”
For more on Pelfrey, read the New York Post, Bergen Record and the Star-Ledger.
Amazing how Maine dominated in ST and is struggling now, while Big Pelf is doing the exact opposite…great to see this kid oozing confidence on the mound last night. If Johan can just be Johan, Maine can be the pitcher we all know he is, Ollie can be more consistent and Big Pelf can continue to make strides and gain confidence (I sound like Fran Healy), we may not be as screwed as we all thought we were last week…
Why was Lasto booed every time up?
Did the usual bunch of booers just not have anything
else to boo?
Don’t worry, there were others. Heilman had his share of boos.
Yeah I was there and Heilman was getting boo’d. People are so stupid.
Probably something to do with his comments to the media at the start of ST.
I was actually at the game last night and was shocked that my father and I were the only two standing and applauding. I will always believe that he was never really given a chance. Not saying I don’t like Church or Schneider but I do wish they kept onto him.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t — it’s a nice gesture — but why stand and cheer him, specifically? Was it a response to the boos? What did he ever do for the Mets?
Re: the booing, it has to do with the comments in the media, or the knowledge that he made comments in the media, because a lot of people probably don’t know exactly what he said.
Also, he got plenty of cheers when he was thrown out at second in the first inning and when he struck out twice.
correction….thrown out at third.
Man, David Wright is such a great leader. I appreciate him more and more every day. He is always positive and says the right things to support the other players. He projects a tremendous amount of confidence and that really holds the team together, and helps players like Pelfrey out.
Pelfrey pitched great yesterday. He just needs to keep pounding the strike zone, & trust his stuff.
It would be nice to se him win 12-15 games this year. It’s very possible & would do wonders for his confidence and trade value if it ever came to that.
I assume the fans continue to boo everybody due to the carry-over from last season. I also notice that in the 2 games I went to this year, the crowd is a little more rowdy then past years. Hopefully Shea’s last year does not turn into one big drunk-fest.
I agree with your comment other than one thing. While it would be tremendous to see him win 12 to 15 this year, the idea of him becoming trade bait is a bit off. A young pitcher who throws in the mid 90’s with a sinking fastball is not something you get rid of. Personally i felt that the best part of the Santana deal was that we were able to keep the two best prospects we had in our system in Pelf and Martinez. This kid always had the stuff to be a really good major league pitcher. Lets hope he keeps this going and realize what a special treat he could become.
Pelfrey got Zimmerman to pop out in the 3rd… then struck out Johnson… it wasn’t back-to-back strikeouts.
Glad Pelf is getting his confidence up. This must have been very satisfying, especially after starting last year 0-7.
By the way, he said “you know” 39 times in that 1:48 clip. Aright meow, that’s not easy to do.
super troopers?
Sweet uniforms last night. Mets should return to the nameless jerseys.
The invasion of the clones look to the game was interesting. Not sure I would want that more than once a decade though…
well, I don’t think they’d all be wearing the same number, but I do like the nameless look. I had forgotten they did that in ‘99 too, but now that I think about it I remember loving it back then too. That is still my favorite Mets team of all time…
What’s wrong with names? No problem with some individuality/ personality, and aesthetically, I think the orange and blue lettering looks good.
I would have loved to see them let Pelfrey at least start the 8th. He had such a low pitch count, and the Mets tacked on a run (for once!) so it wasnt a save situation.
Would have been nice for the kid to zip through the 8th or get a proper ovation if he let up a baserunner.
eh…normally I’m all about starters going deep into games and finishing them if they can, but Pelf is young, he was at 100 pitches & was able to leave with a shutout and a big confidence boost. No need to let him go out for the 8th and potentially ruin a great performance. Plus, it was good to let Heilman go out there and pitch another scoreless inning, and it was great to have Duaner’s re-debut come in such a no-pressure situation. I thought Willie did a great job with the bullpen management last night.
If anyone is going to the game this sat in Philly and wants two extra tickets let me know. They are sec 114(behind 1st base) row 11. really great seats. Im going and sitting with a group of friends instead and need to sell these.
They are on stubhub now but they are only up until 1pm. I can be reached at jkorper61@yahoo.com for more info.
I thought the key to Pelfrey’s performance wasn’t locating his fastball as much as it was locating his breaking pitches. He was able to get his slider and change over for strikes all night, and when he does that, he is awfully tough to beat.
Unfortunately, the Nats amount to a AAAA club offensively, but I’ll take it at this point!
well, we’ve seen pelf get lit up in AAA plenty of times, so the fact that he can dominate anybody is a great sign.
The booing REALLY needs to stop. It’s getting ridiculous and the players, as much as they say it doesn’t bother them, will certainly begin to be effected by it (if they aren’t already) It really might have something to do with the teams struggles at home
Booing and hissing are not part of the show. You boo puppets. You hiss villains in silent movies!!
In all seriousness – I think the crowd was a little better last night, so I give them a pass. It was only a few jerks booing Beltran – and I was out of the room when Heilman was getting his……so I’m not too sure how that went.
I don’t care about the Boo’s for Milledge…hes on the enemy now and ripped the team after he left….as if how could we trade the great Milledge for 2 other full time players……..if the boo’s for the home team continue getting quieter and for the opposition keep getting louder, I’m fine with that.
And…if you’re at Shea – don’t be afraid to tell some of the boo birds to shut the _ up when they start booing every time a player makes an out.
Schneider’s impact on Pelfrey is palpable, even from the perspective of an outside observer. He calls a great game, and he calms Pelfrey down when the jitters start to rise.
I can see why Schneider had such a positive impact on Washington’s young pitching staff last year.
i saw this too.. when pelfry located his fastball and slider where schnieder wanted it.. at times being just off the plate and missing a strike.. you can see schnieder motion to pelf.. “right there yes… do that again!” and this kept pelf from going into the “damm i just missed a strike” mentality to, “ill throw my pitch there all day and dare them to hit it” and he got a bunch of swing and misses and swings, foul tips, and bad ground balls from those same pitches and same location.
the same can be said when schienider constantly made him go inside with his sinker
There were times that Pelf missed his location, mostly on fastballs, but his fastball had so much life and he had the hitters so much off balance, he was able to either sneak it by or there were not able to handle it and fouled it off..
The most positive thing about Pelfrey for me was he clearly got stronger and more efficient as the game went on. Once he escaped the third inning, I don’t think he even broke a sweat. He got strikeouts when he absolutely needed to and seemed to get ground balls with the same kind of consistency.
Could anyone else watching the game on SNY hear the guy screaming obscenities at Lastings everytime he came up? I won’t repeat it, but it was clearly audible on my tv.
yup me too
Also, Pelfrey seemed to be throwing a lot harder than the gun was registering. (which is the opposite of usual radar gun readings on tv). In particular he struck out Nick Johnson with a high, outside fastball that read 91, but it looked like a lot harder than that. Could have been the location, I just thought it looked a lot harder.
I’m beginning to think that booing is a not-so-distant relative of waving at the camera while on your cellphone. The boobirds want to be noticed. They also want to feel important, to inject themselves in the story. So, perhaps ignoring them would be the best policy going forward.
do any of you remember how milledge bashed the mets…you say the fans need to respect the team and stop booing…how about show respect by booin a FORMER player that did nothiung for us and disrespected his first team that gave him his first chance…i deserves all the boos he gets and more