Opinion: Heilman, Maybe We’re All Right
This season, Aaron Heilman has allowed 13 runs and four home runs in 13 innings pitched.
Meanwhile, he leads the major leagues in appearances.
In an article for SNY, Ted Berg wonders if the Mets would better served giving Heilman a break, using Pedro Feliciano more, or sending Jorge Sosa packing, adding, “I only know that what they’re doing now isn’t working.”
Heilman, talking to reporters after last night’s game:
“I left a change-up up, the ball that Zimmerman hit was over the middle, you know, I’ve just got to figure out a way to make better pitches…Unfortunately, it just feels like I have been making more of those mistakes lately…One outing – one way
or the other – isn’t going to make or break you…This is not something that I haven’t gone through in the past, I mean, not to this degree, but you’ve just got to keep going out there and battling and being aggressive and be confident that things are going to turn around.”
…i will say this, and i’m learning this more and more, though i don’t know whether to admire it or loathe it, but these guys have amazing resolve – and i suppose you have to in a game where people fail more than they succeed…
…that said, heilman is a mess…in so many words, he seems to agree…so, now what…as i said earlier, the answer is probably to get him off the mound, so he can work on his pitches and clear his mind, but that can only happen if the starting pitchers go deep in to the game, allowing less relievers to be used in the first place…
…i like heilman…i think he has a great stuff…but he looks like he gets down on himself out there…i could be imagining that, but it is what it looks like…i don’t know, maybe some fans are right when they say he is dejected and still wants to be a starter…personally, i don’t buy that…or, at least don’t buy it to the extent that it alters his performance on the mound…
…he’s an odd case…he really is…the Mets will argue that he lacks the necessary repertoire of pitches to be a starter…on the other hand, i am starting to think he lacks the necessary mindset to be a relief pitcher…maybe his temperament is such that he must be a starter, meaning he needs another pitch…it’s possible that the Mets are right, and so are the fans…either way, the Ebb and Flow of Heilman continues…
