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Now that John Maine has been put on the 15–day disabled list, the Mets announced that Oliver Perez will start on Friday against the Marlins, while Mike Pelfrey will pitch on Saturday.
Meaning, the Mets will not need an additional starter, to replace Maine, until Tuesday, September 2 against the Brewers.
Prior to yesterday’s game, Omar Minaya told reporters that the team will consider using Triple-A LHP Jon Niese in place of Maine, while also mentioning that Brian Stokes, as well as Triple-A RHP Robert Parnell and RHP Nelson Figueroa, could be considered as well.
That said, according to a report in Newsday, citing ‘person familiar with the club’s thinking,’ Niese is most likely to be the pitcher called upon to start in place of Maine.
In six starts for Triple-A this season, Niese is 5–1 with a 3.65 ERA.
I’m hoping for Niese, because I feel his left-handedness and curve ball will work well, at least in the short term, against a team that has yet to face him.
If not Niese, I would go with Figueroa, since I would prefer the Mets leave Stokes in the bullpen, where they continue to need help in the absence of Billy Wagner.
I am all for Niese making a start…in 09…but whatever he cant be worse than Figgy, Stokes or Parnell…so…
I just cant figure out why Claudio Vargas has been more or less disregarded by the organization as a viable option, especially considering that his few starts with the Mets earlier this year were better than any start John Maine has had for the last 2/3rds of the season…
Not that Vargas is a savior ala Val Pascucci, but I just dont get it…
Vargas hurt his shoulder. He hasn’t pitched since August 3.
wow you must really hat John Maine
hate*
I love the fact that ESPN.com has a front page headline about the mets calling up “Top” prospect Niese. Bringing up the kids like Murphy and Niese on a first place team in the middle of a pennant race is a big middle finger to the GMs around the league who refused to trade for our kids at the deadline. Dry farm system? Take this! I love the ‘top’ and ‘untouchable’ tags :) Omar has handled this nicely. Perception is everything. And as we have seen from Murphy so far, maybe these kids ARE that good and the rest of the league has just undervalued them. Welcome aboard, Mr. Niese.
Well, our farm system is sort of dry. This much is true. We have had guys step up and guys improve, which is nice, but it still is not a good system. I do agree that Omar played his part perfectly (like he always does), and it is nice for him to get some credit. I would probably rather see Parnell start right now, but Niese is a fine choice and I am excited to see how he does. I just hope he can peform in this pennant race. Also, let calm down on Murphy. He has been impressive, but the whole “he is a star and the rest of the league is just stupid” idea is crazy. He is already on his way back to earth. You guys really need to stop crowning guys after 2 weeks of their career. Lets go MEts.
Matt:
I agree with your analys. Stokes is needed in the Pen.
Niese or Figgy would be fine.
I kind of liked Figgy during his last cup of coffee – he has a few starts under his belt and both the Mets and Brewers are in tight races so there could be alot of pressure. But since it is after the rosters expand we should have Niese in the pen too.
im just afraid he will get the kunz treatment and he might be better off in the minors where he will actually play
well I’d say that depends if he gets the start or not. Kunz didn’t get enough chances, but with a SP, give him the start and see what he can do. If he struggles, so be it…then you can try something different.
The minor league season will be over by then, so it’s no use keeping him down there.
Frankly, this it the type of decision you can’t bash either way the mets make it. Are any of those guys that much better than any of those other guys?
Rosters expand, bring Niese up, give him a chance. We have done that this year with A. Reyes, Murhpy, and Evans, why not again?
Pennant race..who cares about the timing, give the kid a shot. If he cant handle it, better to know Sept 2, then the last week of Sept.
All hands on deck IMO.
Wow, first start in Milwaukee? Good luck kid
yea that could be trouble…but why not try. Figgy will be ok, not great, and maybe get lit up. while Niese, has a chance to be great, just ok, or horrible. At least there is a chance he could be at least average and maybe more.
Well niese would definatly have a little advantage as there is not much info out about him. As someone said earlier theres not much differance between the options of figs/vargas/stokes. IMO id go with one of those guys than neise. He is reaching the limit in IP and i dont want him to come up here and not perform well(hurting his trade value..if there were ever thinking of moving him).
They refused to trade him at the deadline, I don’t see him being traded.
They refused to trade him because the players they could get for just him weren’t worth it. Plus calling him untouchable helps his value, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him moved in the off season.
Anybody else feel more confident playing these last 5 games against Philly without Billy?
no,
they hit our bullpen no matter who it is
But we own them this season: we’re 9-4 against the Phillies. Even Mike and Mike this morning were talking about how the Mets are treating this like a bigger series than the Phillies. I smell sweep.
yea but the phills are coming off a sweep of the dodgers(a team that swept them earlier in the year). We are going to be playing in their park..the momentum might be on their side.
I know these next two games are important, but they are not the be all and end all of the season. A two game swing as we have found out this season can easily be made up. The games against Florida and Milwaukee before the three games at Shea against the Phils are just as important. If the Mets can sweep Florida or take 2 of 3 that might be enough to finish them. If the Mets could sweep Milwaukee or take 2 of 3, they’ll get closer to the Wild Card. In alot of ways these next 12 games might tell the season story.
the mets have been bashing the phils bullpen if i remember correctly..
Small sample size, but Ayala in 4 games and 4 IP against Philly this year; 0 ER, 2 H, 1 SO, 2 BB, 2 IBB.
And his lifetime numbers against the Phillthies look like this: 4-1, 3.27 ERA.
The worst part of this is that the schedule is tough in terms of not having any games off. The Mets don’t have an off day after September 11, and play the final 17 games over 17 days. So they’re going to need that fifth starter, no matter who it is, three times in the final two weeks of the season. No opportunities to skip that part of the rotation.
I’ve got a bad feeling about that.
Well on the bright side, at least 10 of those are against Atlanta and Washington.
Well, we played our last 14 last year against the Nats and Marlins, plus a game against the Cards, and that didn’t turn out too well. But, I think this team is better and the Nats worse than a year ago, so that’s somewhat comforting.
That is true, but I just can’t see that happening again even if it does kind of linger around in the back of my mind.
A split with the Phils, take the series against Florida, I think they can go around 15-10 next month and take the division, but it’ll definitely be very tight.
That game against the Cards was a fluke…It was a rescheduled game from earlier in the season, and the Cards pitched Joel Pineiro, who wasn’t with the team when the game was originally scheduled, and shut the Mets down.
Yeah, the Cards game was annoying, but the other games were no fluke. That said, as someone who lives in DC and watches the Nats a lot – and frankly, I don’t think I have to be a firsthand witness to say this – but this Nats team is just pathetic. Last year’s team at least had spunk and willed their way to 70+ wins with a roster that had 120 loss season written all over it. I don’t see the 2008 Nats putting up as big a fight. Of course, we can’t count on anything, but I just don’t see the Mets getting swept at home this year by this corpse of a franchise.
And, who knows, maybe Maine does come back (yeah right). But I can’t help but flashback to Brian Lawrence and company when I see that they’re going to have to rely on some random fifth starter to help to a division title.
The Nats definitely tore the mets up in a series they played earlier this year..the one where pelfrey lost when the mets couldnt score any runs for him..and for all we know acta is gearing up for the mets to spoil them as much as possible. That kind of thing builds team character.
The only thing about starting Niese against the Brewers is that they are a righty-heavy lineup (Prince Fielder notwithstanding). Didn’t they hesitate to bring up Niese earlier this year for a start against the Marlins for similar reasons?
If Martinez,Santana,Ollie and Pelf stay healthy,take their regular turns and we avoid rain outs we will need a 5th starter on Sept 2ND,18TH,23RD and 28Th(last game)
With the expanded rosters we will have lots of arms available for those 4 games . If we can manage to split those 4 games and our other 4 starters keep up the pace they are currently pitching at we can win this thing even without Maine ,Wagner and despite our bullpen
They didnt use Niese because they didnt want to waste an option year on one start. Calling him up after Sept 1st wont use an option year because they wont have to send him back down until next spring.
I would like to see Figgy in there if a started is needed against the Marlins. Figgy’s strength is to change up on the batter, use some tools other then a fast ball. The Marlins are a HR team that crushes fastballs, so why not go with a guy whose strength is anything but a fastball?
wasnt his ERA like 5+? I honestly think we’ve seen the best of figeroa and the mets should turn to a younger player. I think its as good a time as any to bring niese up and throw him to the wolves to see how he responds. I mean, if hes a 5th starter he only really needs to keep the mets in the game so they have a chance to win it.
Figy’s best performance was against Milwaukee in April
6 IP’s 2 runs and a win
I would much rather use Stokes against the Brewers, a righty heavy team. My guess would be he’ll end up pitching 4 innings of long relief anyway if they start Niese. Oh well, its only one game… good thing they have a big lead…
It’ll be very interesting to see if Pelfrey still struggles against the Marlins. He’s been so dominant, but seems to not have the same confidence against them.
I am thinking the Mets will demote Stokes this week for Al Reyes. I think having Reyes available for the stretch run/Oct. is more important if he can in fact close games. Stokes would come right back next week.
I doubt it. At this point Stokes has no options left and might not clear waivers. Better to just wait for Sept. 1 to call up Reyes and let him pitch some games in the minors (he was released remember).
Whats Al Reyes stats?
He’s only pitched one time for Bingy.
Hmm, by moving Perez up he will miss the home series against the Phils… 9/5-9/7 thats not good…
8/29 at Marlins, 9/3 at Brewers, 9/9 H Nationals
with the adjusted rotation the Mets should need a 5th start on the following dates:
9/2 at Brewers
9/16 at Nationals
9/21 at Braves
9/26 H Marlins
Maine can come off the DL on 9/9 so he could attempt to make those last three starts.
I’ll be interesting to see what they do with Niese after he starts in Milwaulkie. They have so many off days in early Sept that they can get by with 4 starters and still give Pelfrey extra rest. But Niese cant get rusty if he is going to start later in Sept.
If Pelf goes Saturday, I’d like to see them use Stokes 9/2 and Niese 9/3 (instead of OP).
Then after the 9/4 off day, OP, Santa & Pedro vs Phillies. Then, after the 9/8 off day, Maine & OP (skip Pelf) for WAS.
Then, after the 9/11 off day, the rotation is set up as Santana, Pedro, Pelfrey, Perez, Maine (giving Maine an extra day off, if he’s able to pitch) or Stokes.
That gives you Maine/Stokes, Santana & Pedro vs the Marlins for the final weekend; if Maine/Stokes hasn’t been effective on the 9th & 16th, you can try Niese on the 21st & 26th. Pelfrey is ready for a one-game playoff if needed, or some extra rest, with Perez for NLDS Game 1 if applicable.
If the Mets play the Tues-Weds NLDS, and no playoff, they use Perez-Pelfrey, with Santana for 3 and Pedro for 4. If they Mets play Tues-Weds NLDS with a playoff, Santana may have to pitch on short rest. If it’s the Weds-Thurs NLDS, Perez & Santana.
haha you put a lot of thought into that and it makes a lot of sense, minus pitching pelf in a one game playoff. But then again with the confidence he’s had why not?
If they don’t bring Al Reyes up this week he will not be eligible for the post-season. I’m not worried about another team picking up Stokes. He is okay. You don’t need him for the post-season. Reyes has more value. Besides dfa’ing Stokes you could demote Joe Smith since he has options but I don’t think that will happen.
That is actually incorrect…because of reasons having to do with injured players on the 40 man roster, Reyes would still be eligible I think…
Yeah I think you can swap him out for guys on the roster on the 60 day dl. But I think they have to be the same position.
Or you could option Argenis Reyes. But the point is moot, because, as others have noted, Al Reyes is eligible as he will be in the organization as of 8/31 and the Mets have a ton of pitchers on the DL whom he could replace on the postseason roster.
I’m looking forward to seeing Niese pitch. He might be our other lefty next year if we don’t resign Ollie
I think re-signing Ollie has become a priority, never thought I’d say that but man he is has been that good lately. As we’ve seen, young pitchers can take some time to develop. Also, lefties usually require more time to mature.
….and its a contract year so he’s looking to get as much money as possible…scott boras called him the next johan haha. People dont seem to realize that Delgado and Ollie have turned it on of late because they were seeing their wallets get smaller and smaller. I know delgado has a money option regardless of him staying or leaving, but if he stays he gets more money so why wouldnt he play better now?
You really think it’s all about the coin for Delgado? I think it’s more about playing for a manager he gets along with. Willie made those not-so-subtle digs at Delgado not getting his uniform dirty, etc. Whatever the case, it’s great seeing him be the Carlos of old.
If Pedro is pitching on Sunday in Milwaukee, does that mean Santana is starting on Monday? I’m going to that game and would love to see him pitch in person.
I was wondering the same thing because I too am going to that game! My family and visiting cousins are going to the Monday game, while I hope to also go to all three games with my father and brother. It’ll be interesting to possibly see Santana and Niese pitch.