Prior to yesterday’s game, Willie Randolph told reporters that the team will likely need to call upon a minor leaguer to start Wednesday’s game against the Nationals.
However, if today’s game is postponed due to rain, a new pitcher will not be needed, as today’s starter will pitch Tuesday, and so on. Then, Johan Santana will likely start against the Yankees in the Bronx on Friday.
According to the Daily News, citing a ’source’, regardless of rain today, Mike Pelfrey will pitch on regular rest on Thursday, and Santana will pitch Friday against the Yankees.
…from what i have heard, since Jorge Sosa is not an option, the likes of Adam Bostick, Tony Armas Jr., Claudio Vargas, or Brian Stokes could be called up to start on wednesday…
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As long as Maine pitches Sunday night when I go to see the Mets finish the sweep in Yankee Stadium.
What always excites me about these situations, though I should know better, considering the Mets luck with these kinds of guys over the last few years (Lima, Jeremi Gonzales, Chan Ho Park, Brian Lawrence, etc.), is the prospect of finding lightning in a bottle, even if it is just for 1 start.
I’d give this start to Armas, Jr. or Vargas. This is what these guys are around for, right?
I posted this in the last thread, but it is relevant here..
Armas Jr. and Vargas are not options to start on Wednesday, because they aren’t on the 40-man roster. Omar doesn’t want to add them for a 1 start job, because whoever is taken off the 40-man to make room will be exposed to waivers.
That’s crazy. Why aren’t they on the 40-man roster instead of say, Ruddy Lugo and El Duque for Pete’s sake? Duque is giving us nothing , and it’s time for this organization to cut ties with him. Jason Vargas stinks, too. Get him off the 40-man roster. This is ludicrous.
Well they were non-roster invitees, so they were never on the 40-man.
FYI: It’s not necessary to take anyone off our 40 man because by my count we only have 36 players on the 40 man roster, and we could easily clear a few more spots by transferring Burgos, Vargas (Jason), or even El Duque to the 60 day DL if that ever becomes necessary.
They DFA’d Casanova, so he’s no longer on the 40 man, so that’s a spot right there.
Perhaps more importantly is in order to call those guys up for one start, they would likely need to pass them through waivers again, which is non-sensical because if they do well they will be claimed.
I fully expect Bostick to get the call since he has options.
Likely need to pass them through waivers in order to send them back down, is what I meant.
The Mets have openings on the 40 man roster, so adding someone isnt a problem.
Its the removal of someone from the 25 man roster that is cause the problems, especially since Wise will have to be added at the same time if not before.
I’m guessing either Sosa and Smith will be DFA/optioned, or Sosa will start and the game will be pen by committee.
Supposedly the rain’s gone by tonight. Of course, they said that last Friday too, so who knows.
I think that the start has to go to Armas Jr. first. I don’t see a huge difference in the two but Armas was here first might as well give him the first opprotunity. I am sure Vargas will get plenty this year.
Also, Vargas isn’t ready yet (only two starts), whereas Armas has been doing quite well over 7 starts.
The point is moot though if they’re going with Bostick. If the guy has options, that definitely makes sense since they can do the switcheroo with Smith and not have to clear waivers with anyone.
If it does get rained out tonight, can’t they flip Maine and Figueroa so that Maine pitches Tuesday on 5 days rest and Figueroa pitches Wednesday. I know this would be 7 days rest for Figgy, but I’d rather this than have Maine pitch on 6 days rest; I’d prefer not to mess with him. Also this sets up Santana, Perez, Maine in that order for the Yankees. If they pitch Miane on Wednesday, he would miss the Yankees.
If that is all correct, that is good thinking – which is why the Mets won’t do it that way.
yes, this is what they should do.
This would put Figgy in line to pitch one of the double header games in Atlanta, and he could (albiet unlikely) come back on 3 days rest in Colorado which would eleviate the need for a 6th starter coming off that DH.
It’s actually not right… Maine is pitching tomorrow, but Santana is pitching Thursday against Washington, so we’ll have Perez, Figueroa, and Maine against the Yankees.
Matt reports up above that Pelfrey will get Thurs against the Nats, while Santana goes Friday on extra rest against the Yanks.
Pelfrey owned the Nats earlier this year, but I dont like that Santana will miss the 5/20 double header. I can see it either way, at least Santana will pitch in Atl.
My bad. Mets.com says Santana is going on Thursday.
Rubin is reporting Adam Bostick.
For what its worth, so far this year, Bostick is 2-1 with an 3.83 ERA, 16 BB, 26 K’s, and 34 hits allowed (4 HR) in 40 innings pitched.
Bostick was pulled after 3 good IP in his last start to limit his use, the next night Armas Jr. was held out entirely.
So I guess Bostick, Armas Jr, and Vargas could all be options to pitch a game for them this week.
I say give Bostick the ball and let him prove that Jason Vargas was the “throw in” in that trade ala John Maine/Jorge Julio
who gets demoted when Bostick comes up?
Nate W above guesses either Sosa will be waived or Smith will be demoted. I’d be quite surprised if Sosa got waived since he’s got the proverbial ‘rubber’ arm so if those are the choices my guess is that since Smith is ‘lucky’ enough to have options he gets sent down, then after the minor leaguer makes that start, Wise gets activated.
I’m assuming they have to make two moves, you cant leace Wise sitting on the sidelines while calling up another pitcher instead. The union would freak.
Pagan has options, so the Mets could send him down. and sending down Joe Smith because they need another starter, potentially twice, is a lot better than sending him down to make room for Wise.
I’m actually rooting for the rainout tonight. As crazy as it sounds its actually a really good time for one with the pitching situation.
The union might well freak, but the Mets can respond that Wise isn’t a starter and they need a starter, plus they’ve had Wise awkwardly sitting on the bench for 3 or 4 days now and I haven’t heard a squawk from the union. I’d also be shocked if they demoted Pagan, shortening the bench. Like you said the rainout solves all the problems so my guess is the Mets are doing their rain dance.
well it doesnt get a 26th roster spot for Wise, but it does solve all the other problems.
I think if the Mets hold out Wise much longer they will hear from the union, and adding a different player first would be an even bigger opening for the union to make it an issue.
They wont hear from the union because there’s no reason for the union to care right now. He’s on the DL but is still getting paid full salary. What would the union care if they didnt want to use him as long as he’s getting paid, which is all the union cares about. Now the commisioner’s office is the one who might make a stink eventually. When they come around calling then the Mets will have to make their decision.
One other thing, Castillo’s little quad problem will prevent them from sending Pagan down. It would leave them totally shorthanded if they did so. With Easley starting in Castillo’s place and Castro unavailable for pinch-hitting duties as the lone backup catcher, it would leave 2 reserves, Chavez and Anderson. Do you really see this happening? Smith goes down and Bostick comes up if neccessary because Smith and Bostick have options.
Oh and sorry for the lateness. I dont get a chance to read here till later in the day.
I’d have thought the issue would be more with MLB if Wise is clearly ready to go, and clearly working out with the club, whilst hiding on the DL.
Since Bostick has options, the club can move him up today in place of either Pagan or Smith then reverse the trade tomorrow. The question then will be whose option do they want to keep more… or who they think they’re more likely to option later in the year.
I’d probably option Smith, since he still has plenty, and it’s more likely they’ll need to send him down later to get some rest.
Still think the best move to get Wise up is to DFA… especially since last night’s experiment stretching Schoney out didn’t go too badly, and Heilman can probably be asked to give two middle innings at this stage.
I cant believe they are pushing back Santana to let Pelfrey stay on his day. Thats the extra starter from the minors getting to stay on turn over your 150 mil ace… bizzare.
what makes it worse is that Santana should be in line to pitch on 5/20 when they have a double header in Atl. Instead we will see Pelfrey and Figueroa, or Pelfrey and Maine.
The only thing I can see is that if Santana pitches on 5/15 it will make a long string of starts on 4 days rest. But what is wrong with that from your ace?
I couldn’t agree more. Santana should be pitching on his fifth day, not Pelfrey. If we were playing the Phillies this weekend then I could understand it.
Why is it hard to believe? Everyone (Met fan or not) would rather see Santana pitch against the Yanks rather than Washington!
Why assume that someone will have to be DFA’d or demoted? Why can’t the Mets do what other teams do. That’s right, it is time for a phantom injury for Sosa, leading to a DL stint!
I don’t know how he lines up regarding his turn in the rotation, but I wouldn’t be against giving Jon Nieves a shot. It’s not a situation where he’d be auditioning for a spot, and it would be an opportunity to see how he would fare against ML hitting.
You mean Jon Niess?
Here we go its freakin “LIMA TIME”!
I think they’re waiting to see what happens w/tonite’s rain AND Castillo’s quad. Maybe he gets the DL, retro to today, so he can return 5/27.
Then, bring up any starter for Wednesday, and after the game, send him down and activate Wise. Stay with a short bench, and Easley at 2B, until after the 5/20 DH; then option a relief pitcher with options (Smith) for another position player (probably Tatis, as a reward) until Castillo is ready.
Next, when Pedro is ready, DFA Sosa and send Figgy to the pen for a month. If nobody gets hurt, and no other bullpen arm melts down (yes, Heilman, I mean you…) then call Smith back up and let Figgy stretch his arm out with 3 starts in NO.
That way, if all goes well, by July 4 you’ve got the full major league rotation plus Figgy in AAA ready to start; your pen is set (Wags, Dirty, Heilman, Feliciano, Show, Wise, Smith).
This is gonna be interesting. A report on MLB.com written yesterday said Matt Wise would be going back down to St. Lucie for two days after yesterday’s game. So that means he’ll be back on Wednesday, too. Then you have the question of who the starter will be if they decide to play the game tonight (heavy rain is forecasted). It could be, in theory, Adam Bostick, Claudio Vargas, Tony Armas, and Brian Stokes, in that order.
Stokes is neither on the 40-man roster nor a proven guy. In fact, he didn’t even pitch as a starter in ST. While he’d be pitching on somewhat regular rest, I doubt they go with him.
Then there’s Armas. Just when we thought he might be the favorite, he was announced as tonight’s starter for New Orleans. I think that crosses him off the list.
Then there’s Vargas. Tonight was his rotation spot. However, he hasn’t pitched. The only thing that would seemingly prevent Vargas from starting is that he’s not on the 40-man roster and as MLB.com noted, the Mets are very hesitant to make a 40-man roster move.
And then there’s Adam Jerez Bostick, II of Jeanette, PA. Bostick is on the 40-man roster and with the exception of one start, he’s had far fewer control problems than he did last year. He’s never pitched in (to say nothing of started) a Major League baseball game. He was likely rushed into AAA last year and had problems with dead arm as well as tendonitis. He’s not had any of these problems so far. Unlike Jason Vargas, Bostick seems to have a lot of upside and when he’s on, he’s unhittable. In fact, when he’s not on, he’s also unhittable. But he walks the ballpark and then some. He’d be an interesting (and logical) choice, especially given the opposition.
But that begs another question…Joe Smith seems likely to be optioned to AAA to make room for Bostick. But who gets axed to make room for Matt Wise? Bostick after his first start?
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