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Mike Pelfrey allowed just three hits, while striking out five over seven scoreless innings in last night’s win versus the Giants.
He didn’t walk a batter for the first time in his 34 career starts.
Manuel, on what may have clicked for Pelfrey in his last few starts…
“I think what did it for Mike was having some success breeding confidence. To come to the major leagues, there is always a question or a doubt on whether or not you can do this or accomplish this. And, there was a period where he struggled and I think that was a bigger factor in terms of what he brought to the mound as far as he stuff goes. Then all of sudden, when he had some success, you could see the man became a bit bigger than what he was before that. So, i think the success has had more to do with him than anything because it breeded a level of confidence that he feels good even if he gets in trouble in that he’s one pitch away from getting in to trouble.”
Manuel told reporters that he did not consider sending Pelfrey out to pitch the eighth inning last night because he had already thrown 110 pitches. In fact, Manuel added, “We’re probably gonna be careful in his last outing on Sunday and keep him real, real close to 100 pitches.”
Pelfrey, on when things started to click…
“I think in the Dodger game…I found out that location is a lot more important than velocity. That proved to me that, hey, I can go out and if I execute pitches and hit my spots I don’t need to throw 95.”
Pelfrey, who has allowed two runs or less in six of his last eight starts, is 5–0 with a 3.44 ERA during that span, during which the Mets are 7–1.
He is 7–6 on the year, with a 3.93 ERA.
…in the past two years pelfrey has taken a lot of criticism from fans and the media for not developing as quickly as other pitching prospects around the league, especially with the Mets being in their current “win now” state, but it’s important to remember that pelfrey has only made 62 starts in his professional career since being drafted by the Mets in 2005…
…however, over his last eight starts we are beginning to see pelfrey’s potential coming to fruition as he has learned how to pitch at the major league level, which has given him confidence that he can complete at this level…
…also, i’m beginning to think Rick Peterson was more of a hindrance than help in pelfrey’s development…i’ve folllowed pelfrey’s professional career since he was drafted and i never understood why he was told to abandon his curve ball, which was one of the reasons he had so much success at the college level…with Dan Warthen allowing pelfrey to throw his curve ball, it will give pelfrey another weapon to get hitters off balance when he throws his fastball..
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Mike…..you mean against the Giants
Are you referring to Pelf’s quote ““I think in the Dodger game…I found out that location is a lot more important than velocity.” I think he did mean Dodgers (on 5/31), he’s referring to when he thought he turned the corner.
start ordering your jersey’s now….. this kid is gonna dominate lineups
GO BIG PELF
Order your jerseys now? LOL….I guess we know who the bandwagon fans are here….
Having Santana, Maine Pelfrey, Reyes, Wright and Beltran for the next several years makes our future look pretty bright, especially with the new stadium and a good amount of money coming off at the end of the year. I would like to bring Perez back as well, but probably not for what he is going to demand. Either way, we have the makings of a very nice starting rotation for a long time with those three in there.
Knock on wood, but I think Pelfrey has a chance to become special. I agree with Matt, I think Peterson was a hurdle in Pelf’s development, and ever since Warthen became the pitching coach all Pelf has been doing is dealing and pitching. As of now, all signs are pointing upward for Pelf and the way he is developing he can become a very dominant pitcher. Also, I feel that it is very important for the Mets to sign Oliver. With the rotation of Santana, Maine, Pelfrey, Perez as our top 4 for many years to come, the pitching rotation will be set and Omar can start focusing on improving the offense. This pitching staff will carry the Mets for many years.
Don’t count on Perez being there for many years to come just yet, but I kind of hope he is though I still think he will want more than the mets will want to give him. Either way, I agree that we have a nice core set up for the next several years- It’s like what the Phillies have with Rollins, Howard, Utley and Hamels except we have 3 good pitchers locked up and our hitters are younger and with the exception of Utley much better.
You say Peterson is a hinderance, but Pelfrey points to one of the main tenets of Petersons philosophy as the point of his turn around.
Pelfrey, on when things started to click…
“I think in the Dodger game…I found out that location is a lot more important than velocity. That proved to me that, hey, I can go out and if I execute pitches and hit my spots I don’t need to throw 95.”
does not jive, now I will grant some of the changes and the one size fits all approach that Peterson preached I believe was ultimately not effective and perhaps hurt Pelfrey, but it is hard to take seriously throwing darts at Peterson post haste when Pelfrey himself goes to Petersons handbook.
But when he’s missing now, he’s missing with inside fastballs as opposed to Peterson’s logic of just keeping the ball down in the strike zone.
I love how Warthen is getting all of the pitchers pitching similarly- i.e. pitching hard and inside to batters.
lets just not count all of our chickens yet shall we, Warthen is getting a lot of credit for something that happened before he arrived in Pelfrey, and Perez has had two stellar starts, but he has had many good starts in a row under the prior pitching coach, not saying the change does not help, because I was an advocate in Peterson wearing out his welcome, but thus far I would file a lot of this under purely coincidental.
Okay, I agree with you for the second time today. This must not really be Patrick.
Pelfrey has improved vastly over his past 8 starts. As his confidence continues to grow, the number of walks he issues will continue to fall, too. Thus, his improved command has and should continue to help him pitch deeper into games, allowing the bullpen to rest.
i have only come to realize how tremendous of a human being pelf is in his past few starts. i think hes been effectively using his size to overpower hitter, and the movement on his pitches has taken care of the rest. he looks relaxed on the hill. Go Big Pelf!
Pelfrey will have one more hurdle to clear before we can say he’s arrived. Now that he’s winning, teams and hitters will be taking a closer look at him and what he brings to his starts. Once the league has adjusted to him, he’ll have to adjust to their adjustment. If he can do that, the sky’s the limit.
But it’s exciting to watch a young player take his first leap forward, and you can’t overstate the boost it gives to a team when their weakest starter suddenly becomes one of their strongest.
I think we should offer a 4 year, 50 mill contract. He might not accept that, but we will have to see. I am a huge Oliver fan, and hopefully he will continue to flourish after changing his mechanics with Warthen. It will be interesting to see his next start against the Rockies which will not be a big game situation.
Pelfrey, who has allowed two runs or less in six of his last eight starts, is 5–0 with a 3.44 ERA during that span, during which the Mets are 7–1.
I say his figures are even better According to my research Pelf has given up 15 earned runs in 512/3 innings over his last 8 games . That should calculate to a 2.61 ERA not a 3.44 era
I think we should all calm down, be excited that Pelfrey has shown some good progress but in the process remember that the Giants are among the worst three offensive teams in the league.
Yes the Giants are bad but we are talking about the last 8 games not just last night
Plus even if the Giants are bad they still can hit balls hard and walk They did neither last night. Not a single fair ball was even hit hard and no walks
It really feels like the biggest hurdle was us – the fans – and the unreasonable expectations we had for big pelf. Perhaps a lot of that was caused by the Mets hype machine as well – but jeez – the kid’s TWENTY-FOUR YEARS OLD. Brandon Webb didn’t throw a pitch in the majors until he was 24, and wasn’t dominant until he was 26.
Honestly, big Pelf is ahead of schedule right now. He has been without question the best pitcher on our team over the past month – a team that includes Johan freakin Santana. In each of his past four starts, Gary and Ron have said that he’s having a “breakthrough.” If he keeps breaking through, he’ll be a Cy Young candidate in the next few years.
Peterson is a pitching genius, but he’s only one voice. I guarantee you that Pelfrey learned a lot from Peterson that has helped him, but being under Warthen gives him a chance to think about what he should keep from Peterson, and what he needs to forget. It’s a natural process, but it seems doubtful that Peterson “hurt” his development. Again, this is a 24-year-old who is absolutely eating teams for breakfast. He is pitching WAY WAY better than the “stud” prospects Kennedy and Hughes from our crosstown rivals.
It’s particularly great that he’s having such a long string of good starts. If he gets lit up sometime soon, he’ll still have the confidence he’s gained.
I gave him an A. He’s completely exceeded my expectations, and I think he has a chance to be a very special pitcher if he can start consistently throwing solid off-speed pitches. The idea of having a home-grown ace, or strong number 2, makes me giddy.
95% of us voted at least a ‘B’.
now c’mon. I understand the euphoria from his last few starts, but the guy was simply lost the entire months of April and May. We were all ready to shoot him back then.
So 6 weeks of good pitching changes everything I guess.
He gets a B- thus far. But is shooting up to an A if he keeps this up through mid-August.
To me the difference in most of Pelfrey’s starts this year vs some earlier in the year, and the last 2 years is very simple….
Brian Schneider
He has such a respect from his pitchers and certainly calls 2374632 times a better game than Casanova, Castro and Loduca ever have.
Come on man, you make it sound like that tenet is Peterson’s and only Peterson’s. You don’t think other pitching coaches preach that belief as well?
In any event, I would like to apologize to The Pelf, who I have bashed several times when he went through rough stretches in April. The guy is a completely different pitcher that he was in April. He is going to be a cornerstone of the Mets rotation for years as long as he pitches like he did last night. A dominant performance, Giants or no Giants.
I gave him an A, because I’m completely throwing out April and part of May, now that we have a new pitching coach. Good riddance to The Jacket.
umm but he pitched well against colorado in COL, the Yanks, Arizona, the dodgers….hes playing well
and he held his own against the Angels
Mike Pelfrey is really improving. He is locating his pitches, and is getting outs in tough situations. He is doing well. I’m looking forward to see how he does after the All-Star break. If he stays hot, there’s no reason that the mets are making a run. I am now excited that we are finally getting on a roll that we should have been in a long time ago.
We were 2 games over .500 on May 9th, May 19th as well, about 2 months ago. How is it we are “getting on a roll” now? LOL…….
Could we back off the grandiose expectations? He’s doing great.
Give credit where credit is due. Pelfrey probably came up to the big leagues too soon and he really struggled. They couldn’t get him any run support last year. He lost like what? — his first 8 or 9 starts? But for someone so young, in NY with all this pressure to perform coming out of the gate, he maintained an even keel, concentrated on his pitching, gaining confidence, getting better. He didn’t fold at all under all that pressure.
I’m excited to see his recent success – I’m thinking he’ll just keep getting better, going 7-8 innings every time – and we’ll have one hell of a pitcher here for years to come.
They are dead last in the league in homers and slg.
And I am not suggesting there is not reason at all to be optimistic, the thing I like most of all, is when Pelfrey, like Perez strikes out five, six or seven more guys than he walks in an outing. When that becomes consistent I will really believe, but in games against the Rockies and Yankees he was 1:1 and before that he walked 2 and k’d zip vs the Angels.
Let me see a stretch where he walks say 15-20 while striking out 60-70 over the course of 9-10 games and I am going to begin to believe he has turned the corner for real.
that is some good analysis.
We should be excited by his progress but it isn’t like he just did it against the Giants anemic offense. He also shut down the Cardinals who are one of the top teams in the NL and shutout the Rockies in Coors in that span. He has pitched way above expectations and would have to be considered one of the up and coming young pitchers in the league
I wasa little upset at Baseball Tonight last night because they acted surprised that he was pitching so well over the last 8 games. Do they even watch the games and follow the players? I know it is ESPN but come on.
I disagree that Pelfrey was hindered by Peterson. He started to turn the corner under Peterson not Werthen. I do agree though, that Pelfrey should start throwing his curve a little bit more, but curve balls can wear away at an arm so as long as he uses it sparingly I am alright with it. It seems that Pelfrey was slow in adopting Peterson’s idea’s, either because he was too subborn or that he just had to learn at his own speed. Well, I think its also important to note that Pelfrey looks so much more comfortable out there. He fidgets way less then he used to.
Isn’t this one of the central tenets to Rick Peterson’s pitching philosophy?
“I think in the Dodger game…I found out that location is a lot more important than velocity. That proved to me that, hey, I can go out and if I execute pitches and hit my spots I don’t need to throw 95.”
“The only time velocity wins over location is when you are signing on the dotted line for your first contract.”
-The Jacket
If Pelfrey turns out to be something special (which seems totally realistic at this point), then some credit has to be given to Omar for not putting him in a package for Santana or anyone else. He was adamant about not including Pelfrey in any package and I think this is one of those things that will go unnoticed, but he does deserve credit.
I gave Pelf an A, but I have to say, that it’s a great deal to be graded the day after throwing 7 shutout innings while the team is on a 4-game winning streak.
I know it’s early but anyone else see how similar Pelfrey’s career path is to that of John Maine? thank goodness we didn’t give up on Pelfrey like the Os gave up on Maine.
OK, I’ll bite……..exactly HOW is Pelfrey’s career path similar to John Maine?
he’s the only met so far that i’ve given an A, just because of how vastly he’s improved.
GO BIG PELF!!!!!
I believe strongly in accountability, so here goes. Just a few months ago I was adamant that Pelfrey was not a major league caliber pitcher. I called him a one pitch pitcher, and though I left open the possibility that he would eventually learn, I doubted it strongly, and I was labeling him a bust.
I’m not ready to declare him a star, but it is apparent that Pelfrey does have more talent than I gave him credit for, and that he is in fact a major league pitcher. Kudos to those who urged patience.
Not ttoting my own horn, but I was one of the few at the beginning of the year who said send him out there every fifth day and he’ll figure it out. WIth coaching help, added curveball and ditching of that mouth device, he has. He could be dominant consistently.