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In case you’re curious, and I’m willing to be that you are:
Since joining Triple-A last month, Mets 22–year-old LHP Jon Niese is 3–0 in three starts with a 2.37 ERA, while striking out 14 batters and walking four through 19 innings, during which right-handed hitters are batting .180 against him.
Meanwhile, Nelson Figueroa is 2–3 with a 4.50 ERA in his last 10 starts for Triple-A New Orleans.
In 50 relief appearances for Triple-A New Orleans, Mets 34–year-old RHP Nate Field is 1–3 with a 4.68 ERA, while striking out 55 batters in 50 innings, during which right-handed hitters are batting .146 against him.
Mets 28–year-old RHP Ivan Maldonado has a 3.86 ERA in 39 relief appearances for Triple-a New Orleans, during which he has struck out 53 batters in 56 innings, though he has also walked 33.
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Time to start bringing these kids up. It works for Tampa … It works for Minnesota. What is New York so afraid of?
They’re afraid that if they bring these kids up and they succeed, they won’t have anyone left to blow a 4 run lead in the last 2 innings…
LOL
So it doesn’t look like Figgy will be joining the 25 man anytime soon, but what about September call ups?
Give Figgy a shot at long relief… He seemed to pitch well the 1st time through the line-up. He ran into probs around the 4/5th innings…
Figz wasn’t good the first time around..we need FRESH blood
Bring up Niese and Field. We just need to have someone new, someone not in the loser mindset. If whatever we got isn’t working (just like we had with Willie), then it’s time to make a change. Even if it’s making a change just for the sake of making a change. It worked before, and it might work again. It certainly can’t be any worse…
I’m interested in Field…that swing and miss ability is lacking in the pen, aside from B-Wags….He may have a high era in AAA, but the PCL is a notorious hitters league.
Agreed, we need some arms who can get a K when needed. For all I care DFA the entire pen except for Wagner & Kunz
Yep – that’s exactly it. We’re missing a power arm in the pen, have been since 2007. The whole point is to get a guy who can get that 1 out. ERA, as a stat, is deceiving enough for starters. It’s pretty meaningless for relievers. One bad outing can skew the whole thing. I like to see WHIP numbers, and Field is pretty good with that…
Thanks for the update, Matt. Can ya give Omar a call and ask him to bring ‘em all up and send the current bullpen down?
I’m all for that — send down smith, heilman, feliciano and cut schoenweis and bring up the youngsters…they can’t be any worse than what we have…
They can be, unfortunately.
But only by so much. So instead of blowing a 4 run lead by giving up 6 runs, they’ll give up 8 runs. Will that really matter, though?
what’s the worse they could do. They are all worth removing-you need to keep a couple but what could it possibly hurt? Our bullpen stinks right now. Willie and Rick are laughing!
Bring ‘em all up!!! Except Figgy!!! Send Feliciano, Smith, Heilman, Show, send them all down!!
A GOOD place to START, might be to FIRE OMAR!!
Who would you have wanted Omar to trade away for someone like bradford or street… Niese, F-mart?
no thanks…
are you sure Nate Field is actually 22?
Does it really matter? I think the qualifications for being a Mets reliever are:
1. Able to wear a uniform
2. Able to tell where home plate/first base is
3. Able to throw 85+
I wonder if the Geico caveman is looking for a career change…
This job isn’t easy enough for him.
Well, if Heilman can do it…
problem is he cant
looks like you have finally seen the light…
or the gecko….
Apparently 32 is the new 22!
it certainly matters in the fact that you might think we have a prospect, when Field is a journeyman. He’s pretty much a 4A pitcher
So what? He has decent numbers, and the bullpen is completely shot. Why not bring him up? Who cares how old he is? Why can’t he be a one hit wonder this year? I’d at least give him a look.
29 BB in 50 IP at AAA = complete disaster.
4.83 BB/9 and a 5.13 ERA in 89 career MLB games = a good reason why not.
And the guy is now past his prime as a reliever.
This team has lost 5 games where they led after 8 innings. They have lost 4 additional games where they led after 7 innings. You lock down 7 of those 9 you have a 5 game division lead. This team is eating away at my soul.
The 2008 New York Mets
(bullpen not included)
Also worth mentioning that Bobby Parnell had a solid AAA debut yesterday:
W, 6.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
that would result in a mets loss if he was in the majors
It would be a no decision for him as the Mets would probably be leading 4-2 when he would leave the game. But the final would end up being 5-4.
The Mets need pitchers who can actually pitch a compentant full inning or 2. The way its been is starter goes 6. That leaves 9 outs for a bunch of situational pitchers. WIth Hielman thowing batting practice, the only one who can go a full inning is Sanchez, who is throwing around 86mph these days. Not a winning formula.
You usually get pitches over the plate during batting practice. I’d rather see him get beat by hits than walks and HBP’s like he has been going…
It’s probably not enough just to have fresh faces on the team, they need to be used [see Kunz, Eddie].
Our bullpen is clearly in a funk and they need to be put into less critical situations and well rested.
On second thought, it’s not a funk: This is a Dark Age.
(Wow, I need to cheer up!)
“they need to be put into less critical situations”
You mean like a 4 run lead over a last place team?
…Touche.
Does anyone throw in the high 90’s anywhere in the Met farm system?
Parnell hits 95. Stokes hit 96 the other night.
Maikel Cleto, Brant Rustich, Jenry Mejia, Brad Holt, Ryan Coutlas, John Holdzkom…
good info!
unfortunately none can help this year, and only Holt can reasonably help the pen next year…
:(
Rustich could help the pen next year couldn’t he?
In other news, is there a reason we draft relief pitchers with one pitch and then turn them into starters. I’ve never understood it, or when we do draft starters we make sure they can’t throw higher than 92 or something.
there is a chance Burgos might make an appearance this September.
BRING THEM ALL UP !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ALL OF THEM !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GOD !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HELP !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Drive the Mets bullpen upstate and leave them by the road. Bring up the kids. Thanks Omar for the productive trading deadline
I wouldn’t mess with the high-ceiling prospects (Niese & Parnell) by bringing them up to work out of the pen in a pennant race. The downside of having them blow out their arms by trying to do too much (a la Joba) is too high for the future.
Replacing Muniz with Field is fine. Letting Kunz have a week as closer, ditto.
For 2009, I want the Mets on a modified 5 man rotation: Santana every 5th day no matter what; Pelfrey – Maine – Pedro and a #5 low-price FA signing to fill it in. Then, when Pedro gets hurt, Niese gets called up; when Pedro is back, go with a 6-man rotation so that Niese (and Pelf) don’t throw too many innings.
And, btw, instead of making Texeira the #1 FA priority, it should be F-Rod.
I’m all for F-Rod…
its K-ROD……
bring Franky to NYC.
Who made Tex a #1 priority?
And we don’t need a low #5. We need a good mid-rotation guy, if not a #2. Starting pitching should be #1 priority. Bullpen and outfield should be #2. And Murphy needs to work this offseason on learning to play 2B/1B most of the time. He should get good playing time platooning with Delgado (if his option is picked up) and Castillo, until he lands a starting job once one of them gets hurt…
But all that aside, we’re not in 2009 yet. We still got 2008. And this season can be salvaged. They need to at the very least try…
I agree, Tex should be considred a luxury IMO, the top priorities should be resigning Perez and/or bringing in a guy like Garland, and retooling the bullpen.
“low priced FA starter” is there such a thing?
For this year I would actually use Stokes and Kunz in relief. Why Jerry Manual hasnt been using Kunz is beyond me. Call up Niese right now as a situational lefty (his splits are strong on lefties) dump Muniz as he isnt being used correctly.
In Sept I would add Parnell as he has strong righty splits. Bring back Muniz after getting him regular work at AAA.
Since the Mets have no one who is a sure thing against guys from both sides of the plate this then gives them a high number of situation lefties and righties.
Feliciano, Schoeneweis, Niese
Parnell, Muniz, Kunz, Stokes (or Maine), Heilman, Smith.
Sanchez and Wagner for full innings is they can.
hopefully the results will be a little better… but Heilman will probably still have to get lefties out for them to win.
Niese and Parnell aren’t high ceiling. and Joba didn’t blow out his arm because he pitched in the bullpen, he blew it out because he moved out of th bullpen to early. It actually makes more sense to let them transition slowly by starting them off in the bullpen.
Seriously, i feel like i’m in an abusive relationship being a fan of this team. Has there been a team in the History of sports that has penalized the loyalty of their fans worse than the NY Mets?
The Pirates. Ironic, isn’t it!
after all these years, you should be immune from all this abuse… part of being a fan of this team
Here are the splits for all of the Mets’ current pitchers as well as those who have been talked about today. Stats shown are batting average against (BAA) and WHIP.
vs LH vs RH
Pedro .310, 1.70 .237, 1.34
Ollie .168, 0.88 .249, 1.53
Santana .249, 1.16 .230, 1.16
Maine .236, 1.55 .233, 1.13
Pelfrey .322, 1.88 .261, 1.14
Wagner .220, 1.15 .174, 0.81
Heilman .330, 2.12 .212, 1.10
Sanchez .205, 1.33 .232, 1.15
Feliciano .203, 1.06 .329, 1.88
Smith .318, 2.06 .214, 1.10
Muniz .294, 1.80 .250, 1.07
Show .159, 0.68 .322, 1.94
Minor league numbers (all levels, cumulative)
Kunz .276, 1.63 .186, 1.08
Niese .252, 1.32 .242, 1.22
Stokes .231, 1.31 .259, 1.23
Collazo .233, 1.11 .280, 1.26
Field .379, 2.73 .139, 0.85
Maldonado .278, 1.93 .300, 1.51
Figueroa .259, 1.29 .271, 1.31
As many have pointed out, the Mets’ biggest pen problem is that the pen is nearly all situational guys and very few guys who can pitch to both sides. The only ones in the pen who can pitch competently to lefties and righties are Wagner and Sanchez, and with Sanchez’s recent drop in velocity, he’s a crapshoot at this point. Re the minor league guys, Stokes is at least decently balanced so he should be given a shot, and Kunz is good enough against lefties that he should probably stick around. Niese is the obvious addition — he’s good against both. Field is another Smith/Heilman, only even more exaggerated. He shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near lefthanded hitters.
In terms of sticking a starter in the pen, Pedro and Pelfrey are both bad against lefties, and Santana and Ollie can’t be wasted in the pen. Maine is the obvious choice, though he’d need to work on keeping down the walks against lefties.
Re the above numbers, the columns got messed up, but the first pair of numbers for each pitcher represents his numbers against lefties; the second pair represents his numbers against righties.
Good post. I didn’t realize there was such a disparity between right-handed and left-handed hitters with Heilman.
This is the first year there is such a disparity — until this year, he was indeed solid against both, which is why he has a reputation as a guy who can get both righties and lefties out. But this year, he’s basically like another Joe Smith.
Ok so who keeps on saying that Heilman can get both LH and RH hitters out? That’s clearly BS…
The stats don’t really surprise me, although Omar might go, “huh?”
Feliciano and Scho are horrible against righties
Heilman and Smith are horrible against lefties
Sanchez is good but looks tired (well, he hasn’t pitched in 2 years, it shouldn’t come as a surprise, Omar)
Wagner’s line is good, but deceptive. As a closer, he is put into situations where it doesn’t take much to beat him. So even if he gets 3 outs, 1 HR can change the game.
There are guys in the minors who don’t necessarily have great numbers, but don’t have terrible numbers either. Making a change for the sake of making a change seems to be what this team needs.
Collazo could be a possibility too- in replace of Feliciano.
No stats for Parnell?
They should add Collazo in Sept (among others) to help allow the L-R-L-R changes that will happen batter by batter.
They really cant do that now with only Feliciano and Show. Heilman and Sanchez need to get lefties out, or the Loogy’s need to stay in against the righties and survive…
Parnell:
.259, 1.35 vs LH
.261, 1.41 vs RH
Balanced as well, though overall numbers are not as good as Niese, or even Stokes (especially considering that Stokes’ numbers are at AAA and Parnell’s are at AA). Those numbers don’t include his start at AAA yesterday.
figgy could help,he always got hit after the 3rd inning, he has like 3 curveballs.call up niese and parnell, send down heilman,muniz
I think the Mets should have a promotion called “Lucky fan who pitches the 8th inning”. Every night will be exciting.
As long as they check that fan between the legs. Gotta make sure he got a sack to be able to throw strikes and not be scared like “Blow-it” Heilman.
We all certainly want to completely revamp the bullpen with 7 new pitchers, and I would support that, but realistically, I want my ‘08 bullpen to look like this:
Closer: Wagner
Set-up: Sanchez and Kunz
Lefty: Feliciano and Niese
Long man / 7th inning guys: Heilman and Vargas or Stokes
AAA / Release: Show, Smith, Muniz
I know this is not much different, but not letting Heilman, Show or Smith anywhere near an important game will be a large improvement. I really only trust three guys on this team, Wagner, Sanchez and Kunz … and they would be in with leads.
Maine to the bullpen – unless his arm cannot start anymore – is not the answer. He walks far too many guys …
I would pick Scho over Feliciano to stay. Aside from that, it’s a fair revamp…
why lose either lefty?
no one else can get lefties out, and its mostly lefties that will kill the Mets if they are down to just one loogy in the pen.
thank god you have no power in making decisions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
man……..i usually don’t pray, but the mets bullpen has convinced me to do this every night from now on when i go to sleep. this is the only way i think i can somehow help this team.
Hmm…Can you throw strikes?
maybe you shouldnt wait until you go to sleep… start praying when they starter comes out.
If you’re goig to ditch one of Shoeneweis or Feliciano, maybe it should be the latter.
Nate Field is 32 years and has pitched in 89 major league games to an ERA of 5.13. This is what is being proposed as a fix???
It’s a change for the sake of making a change. Relievers can get different results year to year. Might as well give it a try, no?
I don’t know if Field is being proposed as a fix. Matt is just acquainting us with our options and their respective strengths.
You want to solve part of your bullpen problem next year, go and sign Sabathia. At least that’s 5-10 games a year you know you won’t need to see any of those incompetant losers at all.
I vaguely remember hearing the same things last year, only replace Sabathia with Santana.
I don’t think so… Santana has never been a big CG guy… he’s a 6-7 inning pitcher and we all knew that before he got here.
Bring ‘em all up. Out bullpen makes me sick every night
Let’s see… Niese is dominating a hitter’s league?
Call him up. Now. Maine in the pen.
Was that so hard?