|
|
|
Last night, Mike Pelfrey pitched a full nine innings and let up just three hits, three runs, while striking out three and walking three, in a win against the Braves.
Pelfrey leads the team with 12 wins.
The Mets are 16–3 in Pelfrey’s last 19 starts, during which he has a 3.23 ERA.
Jerry Manuel, regarding Pelfrey, while speaking to reporters following last night’s win:
“Mike has evolved into one of the bright young pitching stars in the National League, no question. He’s very impressive from where he came early in the season. We were questioning whether or not to have him have him in the rotation…
Pelfrey walked to the mound for the ninth inning, with a roaring, standing ovation from the Shea faithful.
“That was awesome,” Pelfrey told reporters after the game.
Pelfrey, on his season so far, following the game, said:
“I’m not the same guy that, early in the year, was trying to be so perfect and nibble at the strike zone. I feel more confident and know that when I throw the ball over the plate and keep it down we have guys behind me that will make plays.”
In the sixth inning, Gregor Blanco reached base on a bunt. Pelfrey walked the next two hitters. Dan Warthen walked to the mound, and, according to Pelfrey, told him to throw a sinker, to get two outs in exchange for one run.
Pelfrey threw a sinker and got the double play, thanks in part to a slick play from Argenis Reyes.
…i believe this is what is known as ‘commanding the inning’…
It’s official, this is the best rotation in the National League.
One thing that worries me is Maine’s shoulder and the fact that Pedro can tweak something any day that will keep him out for a month.
I think when the rosters expand, Niese should be given at least one start to give a guy like Maine an extra 5 days to rest up.
Ugh…shut up about Niese already. He’ll get his chance when he’s ready.
kbh, fall back. TA09 makes a good point. Maine doesnt look like hes progressing all that well. It may be something to look into.
I think he’s less concerned with Maine’s health and more concerned with finding reasons why Neise should be promoted. There seems to be a lot of that going around and I think it’s premature. Just my opinion.
I agree kbh. Besides Maine was just DL’ed… do you think skipping another start would really make a difference? No.
Dan Warthen, pitcher whisperer..
i like it
Didnt we say the same thing about Peterson?
No, we said it about Robert Redford…
ahhhh, ok.
“We”? Do you have a mouse in your pocket?
It just seems as if he is constantly getting ahead of hitters now. Earlier in the season, it seemed as if he was constantly going 3-0 and 3-1 to every hitter, and they were either walking or hitting the ball hard. Now, he seems to go 0-2 and 1-2 and then throws a strike and forces the hitter to put the ball in play. And taking a defensive swing on a 94mph sinker doesn’t usually result in a lot of hard hit balls.
I don’t know what the ball-to-strike splits look like now compared to earlier in the season, but I get the same feeling, Chan Ho. It sure seems like he’s walking fewer hitters and getting outs with fewer pitches. And the biggest evidence is that now he seems to hit 100 pitches in the 7th, 8th, or 9th instead of with 2 outs in the 4th. Hmmm, maybe he could have a chat with John Maine.
His growth has been tremendous, and it’s a big part of where this team is right now. It’s been awhile since we’ve had a pitching prospect work out, so this is particularly exciting.
just a shame about the wild pitch in the 6th. An outstanding performance all the same!
you know, the WP cleared the bases, and then started Pelf’s streak of 11 retired batters in a row to finish the game. I would say getting the bases cleared there actually helped him.
something tells me things weren’t always so simplistic with peterson. pitchers are thinking less, and pitching more effectively
Brian Schneider pretty much said exactly that on WFAN earlier in the season when he was asked to compare Warthen and Peterson. He said Warthen keeps it simple and likes to go after hitters whereas Peterson was all about charts and graphs and liked to focus on throwing the pitches in certain quadrants which basically meant Peterson liked to nibble.
makes me think now how many other pitchers we “lost” to Peterson’s “nibbling”…could victor zambrano and kris benson have been able to succeed with warthan’s simplistic approach?
i dont think those 2 were gonna succeed anywhere
I was very happy at the time, and even happier now that we didn’t have to give up Pelf in the Johan deal. You could just tell that with the velocity and movement on his fastball, he was going to develop into something really good. The only things he needed to do were gain better command of the fastball/sinker, as well as develop secondary/out pitches. He has done both, command to a greater degree.
I like to read what the opposing team’s coverage to see what they are saying. For some reason, the NY media doesn’t often give quotes from the opposition. You can’t get a much bigger complement than this.
From the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Chipper Jones on Pelfrey:
“He didn’t throw anything over the middle of the plate; he was on the edges all night,” Jones said. “He was real, real good.”
Wow. Larry speaking nice of the kid. Good stuff. That’s one of the best hitters in the game.
“He didn’t throw anything over the middle of the plate…” Except for that fastball right down the middle that caught Chipper looking.
so ladies and gentlemen of the jury, are there any further questions as to who the unquestioned number two pitcher is on the new york mets’ pitching rotation?
i think not.
Ollie.
Well I dunno if I would take this as a compliment, but how about Chipper saying how he’d like to wear a New York uni before its all said and done? He is a good player (when healthy, but I think that would give me the chills REAL bad)
just chipper being chipper. ignore it. where would chipper play anyway? definitely not third and he’s too old to play the outfield consistently and hasn’t played it in years.
so he was nibbling…
how is throwing strikes nibbling? There’s a difference between being out of the strike zone, on the edges, and in the middle of the zone. Only 1 of those is consistently a good thing, and that is what Pelfrey did.
Earlier in the year everyone was talking about how Pelfrey didn’t give up homeruns. I am pretty sure that is because he wasn’t throwing strikes on a consistant basis. Lately, he has given up a few more homeruns, but that will come with more strikes. I for one will accept a couple more homeruns if it means he walks less guys and is putting the ball in the zone.
A guy with his type of heavy sinker should be pitching to contact. If they hit one out so be it.
I’m just so proud of this kid. He had a real rough start to his career and season, and in this city patience runs real thin. Good stuff Pelfrey, I think he’s been the true X factor for this team this season as Oliver slowly worked out his troubles and Maine has been a disapointment. I think we all thought coming into this season that Maine was clearly our #2. But that spot is Big Pelf YEA BABY
good, someone said it. maine definitely has been a disappointment. i’ve never been a big maine fan but you thought he would have been able to build on last year but it hasn’t happened. thank god for pelfrey.
Wow, its funny how people lose hope after a couple of iffy starts. Mind you those two starts, Maine let up no runs and had a win and a split decision. The man just came back from the DL and is a work horse. Give him some time to get back on track. The guy is spotting 10 wins with a below 3.90 era. I know we’re pretty critical here in NY but gad dam..
*no decision
Pelf is an intriguing guy. He maintains his velocity really well throughout the game. In the 9th, he struck out Chipper with 92 mph fastball and he threw the next guy a 94 mph fastball off the edge.
To me that suggests that he is not struggling with the additional innings he has gotten. The fatigue in arms is what the teams must worry about when discussing adding innings to a young hurler who has never pitched this far into the season with this amount of innings. A fatigued arm will lead to altering mechanics which can ultimately lead to injury.
Because he is so strong throughout the game though….I look at this as a nonfactor.
so if argenis doesn’t make that slick play, does that mean pelfrey lost control of the inning? hilarious how much difference a couple of feet make in the next day’s “analysis” of the game.
As great as Pelf has been… He still needs an out pitch. That would make him devastating! Throwing 95 mph and not being able to strike anyone out is criminal!
yeah, 3 hit CG just doesn’t quite do it for me either…