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Prior to tonight’s game, Jerry Manuel told reporters he may consider moving John Maine, Oliver Perez or Mike Pelfrey in to the bullpen – even after Billy Wagner returns from the disabled list next Monday.
In a post to his blog for the New York Post, Bart Hubbuch writes, “Maine, Perez and Pelfrey all told reporters today they would be OK with a move to the bullpen.”
According to Manuel, the team’s biggest problem right now is finding a pitcher to ‘finish the game.’
…he’s right, in effect, because, by finding a ‘closer,’ it would allow pitchers like Joe Smith, Pedro Feliciano and Scott Schoeneweis, to return to going match-up by match-up, which is what they do best…
Manuel also told reporters that Eddie Kunz will likely serve as the team’s closer tonight, as Aaron Heilman is unavailable.
In a recent update on WFAN, Ed Coleman speculated that Jon Niese could be promoted from Triple-A New Orleans to replace whomever is taken from the rotation and put in the bullpen.
…i wonder how serious jerry is about all of this – or, is he’s simply trying to light a fire beneath the entire pitching staff by making maine, pelfrey and perez freak out a bit so that they put pressure – between teammates - on the bullpen…or, maybe he’s serious…
…either way, he’s thinking outside of the box, as opposed to simply ‘going with his guys,’ as some one used to say…
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Desperate times call for desperate measures…
The Boston Red Sox bolstered their injury-hit starting rotation by trading for Cleveland Indians right-hander Paul Byrd in return for a player to be named later or cash
Don’t mess with the starters Jerry, please
I’m thinking Niese could come up and do at least a serviceable job in the rotation. Right now, the team needs help in the pen. The starters have done a nice job, but often have nothing to show for it. I’d place Maine or Pelfrey in the pen, as they both have the power arms this bullpen lacks. This isn’t a permanent solution, of course, but something obviously has to be done…….
Then put Niese in the pen. There’s no need to mess with the biggest strength of the team when you got other guys that can come up and help out the pen.
Niese would give the team another pitcher who works to contact in the pen. It needs someone who can come in and get some strikeouts in key spots (although outs in key spots of any kind would be nice). With Maine’s injury problems and inability to work deep into games, you might be better off (for the time being) with Niese in the rotation and Maine’s power stuff in the pen…
How is murphy not in the lineup tonight??
Lefty on the mound…they’ve been using a lefty-righty platoon with him and Evans, and they’re pretty much sticking to it. Although I’d love to see what Murphy has against lefties. He homered off Pinto the other night, and seems to hang in there pretty well…..
yea i dont care if there is a lefty on the mound..murphy has proved to be a good patient hitter and deserves to be in there
Why would you move one of your 3 starters to the pen before giving Kunz or Niese a chance in the pen…or anyone else.
Let’s make sure we still have leads to lose.
I agree with Kunz, but I think Niese is more suited to be a starter. Low 90s fastball, good curve, solid changeup. He’s not the swing and miss type of pitcher this bullpen needs. And with Maine’s recent arm troubles and inability to go deep into games, he might not be a bad option out there…..
Ollie P has got to be the closer. He’s a big game pitcher. If he can psych himself up for a Mets-Yankee game, or a Mets-Braves game, he can psych himself up to bring down the hammer at the end of a game. And make him do it every day.
Where would we be without him in the rotation though?
Perez would be the last guy I’d take out of the rotation, save for Santana of course. He was erratic early in the season, but seems to have righted the ship of late. He’s throwing great and often times going long. Not to mention he’s eaten up the Phillies and Marlins this season. You have to keep Ollie where he is. If it’s going to be someone from the rotation, go for Maine or Pelfrey.
How much longer till Wagner gets back? I’m only suggesting throwing Perez in for closer until Wagner returns.
They don’t face the Phillies/Marlins until the 26th, so that gives Wagner 2 weeks to recover.
Cerrone is missing the boat here.
Pedro is the guy that you move to the ‘pen.
Give him the save chances until Wags get back, and then use him as a setup man.
Pedro gives up more homers than Heilman. No thanks
Pedro gets killed in the first inning of every game he starts. He needs that one inning to adjust himself and build confidence. I don’t think Pedro is the answer.
The rumors have been that if a SP is used as the closer, Niese is brought up to replace the SP. I know OllieP has been solid for us recently, and this hurts the rotation some… but permitting everyone to have defined roles again will solify the bullpen again and help us in the long run.
Pedro has a set program he follows on his off days.
He also has a fragile shoulder.
He is not a guy who can quickly make the transition from throwing every fifth day to throwing multiple days a week.
His mentality would allow for it, I grant that.
But his body would not.
Pelf is coming up in the most innings he has ever pitched. Wisdom says to never exceed that number by 30.
If he pitches six innings in five more starts (the next 25 games) he will be at that number just in time for the playoffs.
If he is used sparingly in the pen, maybe every other night, he would get roughly half that number of innings and leave 2-3 starts for the playoffs.
That being said, give Neise or Kunz a shot until Pelf is up again and then think about giving him a breather.
good point about pelf. IF they make the playoffs, they would need him to come up big. The high number of innings could hurt him for next year.
You beat me to the punch on Pelf.
A-Innings getting up there
B-He has the best releiver “stuff”
Maine hasnt been putting hitters away pelfrey can do that Pelfrey is also more likely to get a grounder than a fly out.
Great minds think alike.
Let’s not ruin a fantastic year and a lot of awesome development with this kid by having him get shelled once he is tanked or blow his arm out..
This organization needs to make up its mind on whether or not it is a championship caliber team.
You gotta believe, but you gotta be realistic. I don’t want to mortgage a future to have a playoff run like the Philies last year and I have serious doubts as to whether the Mets have the pieces to bring home a championship, even with everyone getting healthy and clicking.
All that hoopla and the won exactly zero games once the season was over.
And where the hell is El Duque?
And by “they won exactly zero games” I meant the Phillies.
Great post. The rotation gets hit hard by not having Pelf in there though…The Mets have won 11 of his last 14 starts…
That being said, the high number of innings pitched (relative to his career) is alarming and this could certainly be a plausible way to handle it.
I agree completely Pelfrey is the best option not only because of his stuff but because we don’t want to over tax his arm.
I wanted to vote none. This would be an asinine move. Trade for someone, bring up a kid (Niese), or how about dropping that third catcher and bringing up a fresh arm?
you forget Castro is probably still injured.
Bring up arms..the worst case is taht they suck, we lose the games anyway, but the other guys get some rest and can hold it down later.
Then DL Castro.
i like cancel he makes castro look thin
“…as Aaron Heilman is unavailable.”
Best news I’ve heard all day.
other than the 5 foot heros at subway???
Kunz had 27 saves in the minors. Use him as the closer.
Nate Field has 13 saves in AAA. Use him as a closer.
Why risk an injury to a starter by making them into something that they are not?.
Trade nothing for Isringhausen, I bet he is pissed and has something to prove after losing his closer job.
And all this speculation on closers has got to make you wonder that Wagner’s injury is far more serious than we are led to believe.
i voted for perez in relief the only thing id be worried about is the inherited runners on base.. can btw CANNNN WEEE PLEASEEE GIVE KUNZZZZ A CHANCE!!!??? the kids gotta sink or swim sooner or later
I agree on the Pelf innings argument for the pen, but I feel like Maine is the one who can stop the bleeding more than the other guys. Pelf and OP have been prone to floodgates opening and not closing over the last year and a half. And, the problem with the pen has been once it starts raining, it starts pouring (on that note, there was a post today on the Mets pen ERA’s, but I’d love to see something on how bad they’ve all been with inherited runners).
I also think Maine would be harder to phase in a late inning role. Lastly, his going there would be a little less of an interruption to the current rotation.
i agree somewhat with u about maine dave but i think pelf wouldn’t thrive in that role – he might lose his confidence
We could get Eric Gagne for a bag of used baseballs.
maine was our worst starter when he was in there. he had an extremely low avg against, but couldn’t go deep. by moving him to the rotation you take advantage of his strength and hide his weakness. maine is also a strike out pitcher. i agree, ollie would do a better job in the pen, because he is a better pitcher than maine. that being so, he should remain a starter. same for pelfrey. maine cannot replace either of these guys in the rotation, while he quite possibly could do as good a job in the pen.
I say give Matt Wise a shot! He can’t be any worse than the cast we have in the bullpen.
What? He’s hurt? oh yeah…he’ll probably still be better than our misfits anyway!
There’s a nickname for our pen… the METSFITS!!
True, it would be good to put Maine in the pen if he isnt actually healthy anymore but coming off the DL (healthy) I feel like he is better than Ollie and is our clear #2. His stats recently were bad because he was pitching hurt, but with this rest I think that he is capable of putting up the first half kind of numbers that we know he is capable of. Ollie also should stay as a starter, just because he is 1) Helping a ton in the rotation right now and 2) could implode with the best of them in a tight spot.
This is why I think Big Pelf is THE GUY for us to put in the pen for the moment. He is approaching far too many innings, as he will have way over 30 innings more than he threw last year. Another thing to note is that this guy, when throwing the heat, can probably reach speeds up to 98 mph, and the fact that he really only has like 2 pitches makes him perfect for the pen anyway. Look at his starts recently, hes been very bad and its clearly due to fatigue. We should put him in the pen to ease the stress of the full season, meanwhile still using his strenghts (the heat) to get hitters out late in games.
Sam the torpedos and full speed ahead.. Jerry is right we can’t continue like this and be successfull..the bullpen is taxed from over use ..we will fail again in sept if we stand pat
Move pelf or Maine to the 8th inning and use stokes as the fifth starter.. Pedro looks ok as a starter but he can’t do the pen..
Keep kunz around and get rid of muniz asap…
That thinly veiled attack on Willie Randolph was pathetic, Matt. Also, putting a starter in the bullpen is S-T-U-P-I-D. Don’t do it.