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The Mets told reporters yesterday that C Ramon Castro and RHP Matt Wise could both be activated for next weekend’s series at home against the Reds.
…castro has been a mystery…it seems like he’s ready to be back, then not…strong, then weak…playing, then limping off the field…like with alou, i’ll believe in castro’s return when i see it…until then, Oh Casanova…
…the situation with wise is odd, because he’s been able to come back for a while now but hasn’t…i get the feeling his future has more to do with who he replaces at the major-league level, than it has to do with his health…
As such, at Mets Today, Joe Janish runs through who should be demoted in place of Wise, such as Aaron Heilman who, according to Janish, still has options and can be demoted to the minor leaguers without having to be put on waivers.
Lastly, as the Daily News reported yesterday, Pedro Martinez has started throwing on a bullpen mound in St. Lucie.
…based on what we know from the past, martinez will next need to throw in simulated games and then rehab games, meaning he should not be on the legit radar until the end of May, with a likely return in June some time…
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Sending Heilman down to get his head on straight might not be the worst idea in the world. This buys time for the Smith/Sosa debate to play itself out a little bit more – and to see if Figgy will be a legitimate option in Sosa’s role once the pitching gets a little more healthy. I have confidence that Heilman will settle down out of the spotlight and come back with something to prove – because the past few weeks clearly isn’t him.
Also, on an unrelated side note….I am looking forward to Perez pitching tonight, hopefully with Schneider behind the plate…….He is the one to keep Ollie’s head on straight in games where he starts losing focus….not that he should be unfocused this game after Wagner calling him out…but still….
It’s all too obvious that Santana has zero chance of winning 20, thanks to Williejacket’s pitch count system run amok. If he’s seldom allowed to pitch more than six, there’ll be too many situations where the mediocrities pitching middle relief will blow leads after he’s left. He’ll be lucky to win 15 at this rate.
I guess they’re determined to nurse that arm for the length of the contract, regardless of how many games are blown per season.
Santana threw 116 pitches that game……..through 6 innings….walking 4………….I’m not sure what you want Willie/Peterson to do….this one is on Johan.
He didn’t get the W because Smith issued a walk and it came back to hurt him.
Johan needs to keep his pitch count down if he is going to go deeper.
I was speaking in generalities, actually, but even in this specific case I disagree. 116 isn’t 150. He could’ve at least started the seventh. So what if he goes 125 or 130 pitches? He’s a big boy–and he’s ostensibly the best pitcher in baseball. If he’s tired, well, I’d rather have Santana at 80% than Smith at 100% in a close game.
Any time a Mets starter can go seven it’s a huge plus, because it means they can bypass one or more of Heilman/Sosa/Smith/Schoeneweiss. If that means Williejacket has to stretch his starters–even if that means letting them work out of jams in the fifth or sixth, or throw 125 pitches–so be it. The end result will be more wins.
Perhaps it’s too early in the season for them to go that far, but Willie has a history of leaning too hard on his bullpen, regardless of how deep in the season he is.
You’re right; “He didn’t get the W because Smith issued a walk and it came back to hurt him.” That’s precisely my point. And it’s going to happen again and again and again and again…
He allowed 10 baserunners in 6 innings. He threw 114 pitches in the start before this past one. If Willie sends him out for the 7th and Santana gets hurt, Willie would be lambasted. In principle, I agree with you that starting pitchers should throw more pitches and managers should try to get that extra inning out of them. However, given the team’s investment in the players, managers and GMs will almost always take a more cautious approach because the risk of not doing so (i.e., injury risk) is too costly.
Yep thats the age we are living in.
I hear what you’re saying, but that doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do. I would just love to have a real competitor managing this team–a guy that would say, “Hey suck it up, man, we need you to go seven.”
Bring in Wally Backman. The guy’s been a great manager at every level. The downside? He had a DUI, I believe. He had a domestic violence thing 9 years ago that seems like it was basically a shouting match that ended up with his sister-in-law breaking his arm with a bat; he’s had IRS problems, and he gets thrown out of games. Who cares? LaRussa got DUI’d last year, and he’s managing. Billy Martin was in trouble all the time. Mota and Schoeneweiss were steroid abusers. There aren’t any saints in baseball. Wally deserves s shot based on his accomplishments.
not to mention, 8 of those 116 were intentional walks and arent exactly taxing on the arm…
I was fine with pulling him there, but it was mostly on performance.
plus hes getting an extra days rest before his next start….pretty soon it looks l ike starting pitchers will be going twice a month…
*it looks like…
Now I get it! He’s getting paid by the pitch.
At $23 mil per, it comes out to about $7000 per pitch.
No wonder they’re pulling him so early!
Well, my point is….thats baseball now….like it or not.
Plus, what isn’t to say Johan said he had nothing left in the tank????
Haren had only 85 or so pitches…..you have a much bigger argument there about taking him out.
It sure is Mets baseball, now…and I don’t like it, not one bit.
You may be right about Johan asking out. It’s impossible to know.
I remember when Maddux used to get hammered by people because he’d take himself out with a lead after six. That wasn’t very long ago. Now it’s expected from everyone…
On the Heilman front…while I see the logic in sending him down since he can be…that is really not best for the team. His confidence, already shaken as a result of losing his 8th inning role to Sanchez, could be severely tested if sent down to the minors.
I think Wise is a nice piece to the puzzle. I would consider moving Sosa down since he has not pitched well either and he has options also. I would not move Smith as he has been very good. The top relievers have been….
Wags, Sanchez, Smith, Feliciano, Show…. followed by Heilman and Sosa
actually Sosa would have to clear waivers, which is a risk given how pitching is in such shortage across the league.
I think Heilman would be even more lost if they moved him to a ‘long man’ role or earlier innings. Sending him down would let him work on whatever is wrong with his mechanics or tipping pitches, etc… It worked well for Traschel a number of years ago.
I agree 100%. Ive said for a while heilman should be sent down to work his mechanics and get some confidance back. I believe he is still a great pitcher but something is definatly wrong with him. At least this way, willie wont tax his arm anymore than what he has already.
The logical move I ugess would be Sosa, but only if they could trade him for something vaugely useful. It is probably shortshighted to just cut him and get nothing back.
With Heilman, how about this. If they want to send him to the minors to get straightened out, let him start. That would do w things. 1) give him more innings and a chance to work on all of his pitches, sso he could get the curve/slider (whatever he shelved as a short reliever) going again, so he won’t be as much of a 2-trick pony, and 2) it could prove if he really can be a starter, putting that debate to bed.
If #2 works out (he looks good starting), it could solve a problem for the Mets, or make him even more valuable as a trade chip. If not, it should get him focused on being the best short man he can, since that is what will keep him in the majors.
not a bad plan…
uh, on… stick on the Heilman should start bandwagon now too?
I’ve mention optioning Heilman a few times already, its a good idea to get him out of the spotlight and let him work it out in St. Lucie. Not sure I would make him a starter, as I would want him back as an effective reliever asap. We already have enough Armas Jr., Vargas, AAAA starter types…
Wise pitched 2 innings for St. Lucie on Saturday, he is ready to come back… likely has been. I think I would option Smith, he has been just as spotty as Sosa and Heilman, he just doesnt get the chance to implode like the other righties. They can sell him on the good job he has done as his numbers appear good, and tell him its just a roster crunch so they done lose his confidence. He was supposed to be in AAA this year anyway…
for as bad as he has been half the time, Sosa is 4-1 and has gone long a few times, and gone 3-0 in extra innings. I’m not sure what people expect from him, he’s done a good job at the job Sele failed at badly last year. Apparently he is a ‘tie game’ specialist, so long as Willie uses him only in ties he will be great…
Nate…his HR rate is ridiculously high at the moment. He is giving up gopher balls pretty regularly. I do not want to get rid of him for nothing (and if he has no options…someone will likely take him), but I think he has not been as strong as your memory suggests
I was a charter member to the start Heilmann club, and have never really gotten off the bandwagon (even as it ran off the road and got stuck in the mud!)
Who knows, if Bannister had tweaked his Hammy in ST a couple of years ago, Heilman would have probably gotten the rotation spot he earned that winter. Would he now be anchoring the middle of the rotation? WHo knows, but he did have a strong off season and 2006 ST preparing to be a starter.
Anyway, my real reason for starting him is to get the work in, and try to mix in more than just his FB and change. Pitching short relief stints doesn’t really give him a chance to experiment.
And if he does well, a bonus! He can always go back to his short man role.
Smith vs. Sosa is not even a debate. Sosa maybe 4-1, but their ERAs pretty much fall in line with their peripheral numbers. Smith is much better.
but sosa can go longer…..
As long as heilman is with the mets he will never be a starter period. The mets see more value in heilman as a relief guy. I agree with Nate that they should send him down to work out a few things. The closest thing heilman will do as a starter is be the long man if the mets want to trade sosa(i dont see that senario playing out but you never know). I do not think we need heilman in a starter role and i think the mets see that as well.
i agree with sending heilman down…also the mets should know they need to target pedro for a return somewhere around may 24th to help with the fact that the mets have a double header aganst the braves on may 20th and there is no off day in sight following that date…i’d hate to have to bring up a guy like tony armas
I think it would be a good idea to give Heilman a hiatus in the minors. Let it be for a fixed period of time, maybe two or three weeks, and let him find his location. (It’s been completely absent on his fastball this season.) Then hopefully he can be sharper and more focused when he gets back.
Heilman and Maine have shown us all what a dominant spring training is worth. Nada.
Send Heilman down and turn him back into a starter. It’s obvious he hasn’t the temperament to be a late-innings guy.
I’m really curious, does anyone actually expect anything from Pedro? At this point, I’ve just kind of pushed him out of my head, and anything we get from him is better than what I expected. Can someone please make me a bit more optimistic!