|
|
|
Billy Wagner tried to pitch a simulated game yesterday afternoon, but could only make it through one batter before being shut down after feeling pain in his elbow when throwing his slider.
According to ESPN’s Jon Miller, during last night’s broadcast, Wagner was in tears following his failed effort.
Though Mets GM Omar Minaya would not categorize it as a ‘setback,’ he told reporters that Wagner will visit a doctor today to determine how best to proceed.
In Newsday, David Lennon provides more detail, and writes, “It appears that Wagner’s comeback attempt is likely over.”
However, Wagner later told the New York Post that he hasn’t ‘written off this season.’
Nevertheless, since being acquired from the Nationals, Luis Ayala is 5 for 6 in save opportunities with a 2.70 ERA in 10 appearances for the Mets.
Ayala, as quoted by Bart Hubbuch in the Post, said:
“I feel bad for Billy, but I’m here for whatever the team needs and I know I can do the job.”
By the way, as a whole, the Mets bullpen has not allowed a run during their last seven appearances – spanning 26.2 innings.
Loading ...
I dont know about the rest of you guys, but I feel confident when I see Ayala getting up for the 9th. True he is no Mariano, but he is aggressive, throws strikes, has good movement, and is not afraid to come inside on hitters.
id rather have a guy come straight at someone rather than “nibble” around the corners and Ayala seems to do a great job of that. it helps that he typically has good D behind him as well. but as long as he can keep throwing strikes, im all for ayala.
Yes, I agree. Throughout his career, he has very low walk totals. So far with the Mets, in 10 innings pitched, he only has 1. Walks will kill you every time, especially in save situations.
Stokes is the go-to set-up man, Ayala is the closer. And if he needs rest, maybe Joe Smith
Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t Ayala give up a run on a sac fly in the 9th inning last night?
Maybe you mean the pen hasn’t given up an earned run over that span?
The run was unearned because of the error on Schneider.
Right, but it was a run, so the 26.2 consecutive scoreless streak is over.
By the way, as a whole, the Mets bullpen has not “allowed a run” during their last seven appearances – spanning 26.2 innings
The run was unearned. Therefore technically the run is still going
This is a pretty insignificant point, but if you give up a run, earned or unearned, a scoreless innings streak is over.
The run is most definitely NOT still going, after surrendering an unearned run. Think about it: how can a ’scoreless innings’ streak be going if in the 9th last night the bullpen surrendered a run?
IT WAS UNEARNED, THE PITCHER DID NOT GIVE UP THE RUN, IS IT ON HIS ERA? NO
’scoreless’ means without a score. If a run is scored, earned or not, then the innning is not scoreless. I mean, really.
i second jamie’s explanation
wow this is very simply fixed.. Matt, put “earned run” and BOOM its done…
I third it.
“By the way, as a whole, the Mets bullpen has not allowed a run during their last seven appearances – spanning 26.2 innings.”
I mean come on, it says they haven’t allowed a friggin’ run in 7 appearances, and they gave up a run in the 9th! The statement is wrong, a common and forgiveable error, but let’s not try to say a consecutive inning scoreless streak is still alive!
who cares.
the elias sports bureau
We won. The end.
not to pile on but really,..who in god’s name cares?
No matter who is closing…I will be a nervous-wreck every time.
Who cares.
That would be funny if it made sense.
Ayala should be anointed with the closer role period. We have played closer by commitee for too long now and i would rather manuel just try to set some sort of roles in the bullpen. Great pickup by omar as im sure the omar bashers will find fault.
“i would rather manuel just try to set some sort of roles in the bullpen”
I thought he did that when he took over? Oh right..all talk and nothing to back it up.
It’d be nice to give some of these guys some chances, so we could know who is capable of coming through in a big Inning, not just a big spot.
Its hard to establish roles when all of your guys are set-up men
Manuel gave both Heilman and Sanchez a chance to define there roles. Each of them failed. Ayala and Stokes have stepped up. It’s crystal clear to me that both Heilman and Schoenweis are on the mop up team. The roles look to me pretty defined now…. 7th inning Feliciano/Smith/Sanchez….8th inning Stokes….9th inning Ayala. If anyone ever told me at the beginning of the season that we would have someone closing who was taken off the Washington Nationals scrap heap, AND successful at it, I would have thought they were nuts. Sometimes you just never know.
And what if someone told you that spring training invitee Brian Stokes would be the 8th inning set up man over Heilman and Sanchez?
That too! :-)
We have been experimenting with the main relief corpse and ayala seems to be the one who performed the best in save situations. The race is too tight imo to experiment with closer by committee again. Imo, let ayala close and match up relief based on the hitter to get to ayala.
Look, I know Manuel’s mostly managed as if he has nothing to lose, but he has to think about the Playoffs too. and he won’t have 97 people to mix and match for 2-4 innings during the postseason.
hopefully nest year it will be f-rod.
surely it will be ayala for the near future though heilman has the stuff to be closer. i really hope he can be the one as i’d prefer him in his best form. usually he’s much better in the second half
Heilman can be the closer on my little league team but only because our season is already over.
ha nice, who were the 18 tools that voted for him?
Up to 44, now. Maybe Philly Phans are voting.
Wagner will be back. I think I would prefer to see that 15MM per year that would be given to Francisco go to starting pitching, either Ollie or Sheets.
I think you mean K-Rod… there is no F-Rod.
what about a-rod’s wife?
I have not missed Wagner … and I won’t.
I’m not really sure why this is a poll. It’s pretty obvious that Manuel has already made Ayala the closer.
Hear hear. I feel bad for the guy that he’s hurt, but the numbers speak for themselves. 22-11 w/o him. Say it with me everyone: “Big money closers not named Mariano are overrated.”
You’re drunk if you think Wagner back wouldn’t be a huge plus.
Unless you’re saying Wagner was the problem not Willie.
No, it’s just that he’s a loser at heart. Mets will never win the big game with Billy on the mound in a crucial spot.
I hated Willie. Obviously it’s not Willie’s fault Wagner decided to have the worst run of his career in his last week as manager of this team, but that’s history.
Wagner has blown about 20 saves in a little over two and a half years as a Met. For someone who is supposed to be an elite closer, that frigging sucks, there’s no way around it. He had what, 7 this year alone in 4 months? Not to mention the couple of games this season he came within inches of blowing.
HAHAHAHAH…he’s a loser at heart.
That’s funny. It means nothing. Might as well give us the title now, because I’d say Rollins and Howard are both losers at hearts too. In fact, the whole 10k thing pretty much says the entire Phillies franchise are losers.
Wagner over whoever would get the bump (which would actually be a problem now..I don’t think you bump Aaron, Feliciano, Smith, Schoeneweis..and you can’t do Stokes or Ayala the way they’ve been pitching..)
Wagner’s freakin elbow is about to FALL OFF!!! He’s not that good when he’s HEALTHY!!!!
WAKE UP!!!!
he’s not good? how is he not good? because you only remember the saves that he’s blown? pathetic.
He’s not THAT good. The word “THAT” is an important word in the sentence.
It implies, he’s not great yet he’s not bad. He’s not THAT good.
THAT is the truth.
He was unhittable in April. Literally.
He obviously was dealing with the pain for most of the season too, which accounts for some of his struggles. Age has caught up with him a little, but if he were able to come back, it’d likely be healthy. He’s better than Ayala, and we don’t even know if Ayala is going to be sort of a flash in the pan and fade by October either.
April was April, September is September.
Age has caught up with him a little = Yes, he’s not that good.
If he were able to come back healthy = I’m hoping for a miracle
The bottom line is, he’s hurt. If he comes back in any capacity this year, he won’t be very effective or dependable. Add that to the fact that age has caught up with him and there you have it.
i fail to see how 52 K’s in 47 IP with a 179 ERA+ and a WHIP under 1 is “not that good,” but you must be expecting a 0.00 ERA from him or something
Hardly. You know what’s “not that good?” How about 7 blown saves in four months? Or is that acceptable by your standards for our big money closer?
metsftw:
As LongJohnMaine just pointed out … He blew 7 saves. He cost the team 7 wins that they should have.
That is the definition of not that good.
blown saves (and saves) are a meh stat. doesn’t tell me enough. how were the saves blown?
also, k-rod’s blown 6. and you guys are screaming about how badly you want him. and yes, he has 55 saves, but the angels have also won 86 games. he gets a lot of save situations.
“April was April, September is September”
If you mean that Wags is a worse pitcher right now than he was at the beginning of the year, then yes, obviously, that’s true- he’s hurt right now.
If you’re saying that “age has caught up with him” since then, I’m not sure how his being a couple of months older would make a big difference, aside form the already mentioned injury. He’s obviously more injury prone now than he was a few years ago, but if he were healthy, he is still that guy who dominated much of the early part of the season.
If you’re implying that Wags is generally an early season pitcher because he’s “not clutch” or something, you’re dead wrong. You know what month is historically his best one? September. He has a 1.77 career ERA in September with 169 Ks and 86 hits given up in 132 IPs. That’s awfully good by any standard. If he were healthy, it would be insane to use Ayala over him, and I can’t imagine any major league club would do that.
How’s his career in the playoff’s?
Go all the way back to Houston … and tell me.
This is also a useful comparison for the “he’s not that good because he’s blown 7 saves” argument- here are some other established closers with more than 25 saves this year and the number of saves they’ve blown:
K-Rod: 6
Valverde: 6
Nathan: 6
Sherrill: 6
Gregg: 9
Wood: 6
Cordero: 6
And only a couple in all of baseball have less than 4 or 5- this is how many saves even elite relievers blow. Lidge’s streak is an anomaly- it’s not like great relievers usually only blow one or two saves a season…
“How’s his career in the playoff’s?”
So, you’re seriously suggesting basing anything off of a ten inning sample size?
How did he do in September the final year he was with the Phillies? He cost them a wild card with I think, 3 blown saves that month.
How did he do in September last year with the Mets? Not that any of us want to remember that.
He’s not a bad pitcher. Not saying that. He’s just not that good.
I won’t miss him. That’s it.
The sample size is his CAREER. He’s a career choker.
In September of 2005, his last year with the Phillies, he gave up 2 earned runs and had 24 Ks in 16.2 innings.
That’s pretty dominating- he did have three ill-timed unearned runs against him, though, so if you want to blame him for the Phillies poor defense, I guess you can do that, but that’s why “blown saves” is often not a very useful statistic.
He was hurt for us last September, so I’m not sure what you’re implying there- unless you think he would have helped the situation by pitching when he physically shouldn’t have been.
No, that’s why stats don’t tell the whole story. You can preach about his ERA all you want … it boils down to wins and losses.
He crumbles under adversity and that is the human element that stats can’t describe.
As far as him being hurt … that is the TOTAL PACKAGE you get with Billy Wagner. He’s … NOT … THAT … GOOD.
If you want to base your judgment of whether or not he’s a “choker” entirely on those ten innings when there’s a huge body of evidence over a long career that suggests otherwise, that’s certainly your right, but it seems to be an unusual way for a team to make baseball decisions, and not one I’d advocate the Mets adopting. We can certainly simply agree to disagree on that, though.
I used to have this same argument with some people about Armando Benitez when he was the teams closer. People want to like a guy … they like a guy. What can I say.
Trevor Hoffman is a “great” closer too … yet he crumbles every time in the big spot. Does that take away from his stats? NO. He’ll probably go to the hall of fame. Doesn’t take away from the fact that he’s a choker.
Billy is no different. He’s a good pitcher, dominating at times …
but tell any Met fan that “blown saves” are not a “useful statistic” when the guy on the hill in game 7 of the NLCS or WS trying to close it out … I don’t think anyone will want to hear it.
By the way … Tear in his arm. Out for 1 year. Wagner is GONE. Just reported on WFAN.
Let it go.
Tear of MCL.
OK- so if you want to go back to basing this all on blown saves, are you suggesting that we just ignore every other closer’s blown saves? Every fan base does this with their closers. We watch Mets games, not Angels or Twins games, so we remember Billy’s blown saves but not those of K-Rod and Nathan- we see them getting saves on highlight shows and imagine that they’re always great. Angels and Twins fans, though, certainly remember each of their closers six blown saves each as much as we remember our seven. Really, outside of Rivera, no fan base is really ever unanimously behind their closer, even when the fans of every other team drools over them.
And are you seriously comparing Wags to Benitez? I don’t think there are many Mets fans who would, now or then…
look, this guy clearly doesn’t understand what we’re trying to get across. i gave up a while ago.
What you’re trying to get across is you’d be a good agent for a baseball player.
For everyone saying Wagner “only has 7 blown saves” as compared to the other closers, many of whom have 6 - have you not noticed that Wagner has missed a month of baseball? He’d presumably have AT LEAST 10 blown saves by now.
But be honest…who would rather have Wagner closing right now or Ayala? I think Wagner closing makes this team stronger. Yes they’ve played well without him, but you can’t discard his talent.
Wagner with a bad elbow, right now … or Ayala?
Ayala.
You want my honest opinion…I’d ride the hot streak and keep Ayala as the closer.
say it with me: “correlation does not imply causation”
big words for the people on here i know, so check out dictionary.com
So, you know how to look up big words and that makes you superior. Noted.
Mikey FF -
Don’t bother with this clown. The facts speak for themselves. Seven (or eight?) blown saves in four months, approximately 20 blown saves in his Met tenure. Wagner is not some sort of savior. I stand by my statement and I’d rather have Ayala closing than Wagner, healthy or not. He’s hot; ride the hot streak.
I’ve seen this guys posts before … always arrogant and omniscient. Some words to be looked up.
Wagner is what he is, I agree.
The team is better with Wagner, no doubt, but I honestly don’t think Ayala is gonna be any worse than Billy as the closer.
The only thing I worried about Ayala is his health. He has been great!
The thing about Ayala is that he never looks worried or scared out there. He has the appearance of someone who will just attack the next batter, and who has complete confidence that he’ll get through the inning. That’s what gives me me confidence in him to be the closer.
I agree 100%. He’s got the guts of a burglar. He wasn’t kidding when he said he needed a change of scenery.
Finishing close or at least close to last every season has to get to a professional athlete and inhibit him from doing better at times. Look at how many players the Mets plucked out from other teams that weren’t going anywhere.
Stokes, although no one expected the Rays to lead the division, I’d say was unexpected. Endy Chavez, Ryan Church carried the team during the first month or two, Tatis who the Mets pulled out of nowhere, Easley, etc, etc. The list goes on and on.
when did endy carry the team exactly? he’s been marginally better than marlon anderson at the plate!
please remind me when marlon anderson hit a 9th inning hr to send a game into extras that led to an eventual win.
and while your at it, when marlon last made a gold glove catch in right field
totally he comes in and throws strikes, he doesnt heilman around…
I think the Mets for ‘09 already have the makings of a good bullpen and I think the need for Omar to hit the FA market next year is a little over drawn.
Yes relief pitching is volatile, but Ayala has already panned out to be a good pick up, hopefully Reyes can be as well. Figgy and Stokes seem to be good for 1-3 innings, plus a host of other options as well.
Maybe Omar does need to pick up that final piece to the bullpen puzzle in the off season, but i dont think the pen is in nearly as bad shape going forward as many people make it out to be. especially with manuel handeling them in the manner he has been recently.
The expanded roster is a godsend for this club — perhaps more so for the Mets than for any other contending team this year. Because without the expanded roster, Manuel cannot mix-and-match the way he’s been doing without running out of relievers, overusing some, and having no safety net for extra-inning games.
But next year, they can’t count on this approach for most of the year. They need to solidify the pen from the middle relievers to the closer. They should go out and get one more reliever either through free agency or a trade. I can see Ayala and Stokes back in the pen in 2009, but not Figgy unless it’s just as the long man.
And there’s no way I can see Wagner holding down the closer role fulltime for all of next year. He needs to share closer duties with someone else or be traded, if possible.
I agree with this, I was at a Saturday game Manuel lost because Heilman tired after 50 pitches and we had Perez warming up. I think Minaya tried..he swapped out Sosa, Sele, and Mota. He brought in some other guys. Some didn’t work, some did.
i agree. Ayala was a good pick for the mets and can fill in on the setup man role. We have a load of specialists in the pen and the only effective “crossover” pitcher outside of ayala is stokes. The mets may need to only pick up a closer or just a pitcher that effective on both R and L. I expect also that sanchez if he puts in the effort can regain his stuff.
09 pen
Stokes-long man
Smith-R
Feliciano-L
(space for extra reliever)
Sanchez-SU
Ayala-SU
Billy or new closer
-i want heilman traded in the off season
I’d like to see what Al Reyes has to offer as well.
I agree…when will we see him?
Who are the 14 people who voted for Heilman? Honestly, no offense, but you Aaron Heilman people need professional help. You’re like pod people.
LOL… pod people… at least their not Sand People.
ugh,,, THEY”RE not Sand People… i hate when people do that, and now I’ve done it
maybe I’m the sand person
I am not one of the 18 who voted for Heilman and I don’t even think he’s suited for the pen at all, let alone the closer role. But, the people who won’t even consider experimenting with Heilman back in the rotation or even trading him are the ones in error.
It’s all about using players in their optimal roles for the good of the club AND being flexible and thinking out of the box instead of sticking with the tried-and-failed. Who can be against that?
Could be my imagination, but to me it looks like Ayala is striding gingerly every time he goes out there. Like he is still feeling the tightness in his groin that made him unavailable a couple of weeks ago.
He is def feeling that. I think it is apparent, I agree.
entirely possible Ayala has a flukey 2 month run of awesomeness. He seems confident, and as someone pointed out, he’s not walking guys. Works for me. For now.
gotta love HGH….j/k j/k
I’m confident in the bullpen now, as long as the Mets’ lead is more than a run. Ayala has been very good, and the 87 other guys down there have done a good job backing him up.
87 guys lol…..I was at the game last night and during the call to the bullpen made a similar joke when they showed the bullpen list…..easily 12 guys on it.
I’m rooting for whoever comes out of that bullpen to close a game.
Last 17 games without an off day - who doesn’t think we’ll see every arm in that pen in a game at some point????
There are 2 questions: how many relievers do you carry when rosters go back to 25 men (as of September 30th, of course), and who are they?
Pedro is scaring me. With the news here the other day that Maine is still a week away from picking up a ball, I think he’s gone for the year. But I have very little confidence in Pedro’s ability to give a “quality start” right now, but I also don’t see any alternative on the staff.
That means, to me, that you need a long reliever ready for each Pedro start. For a 25-man roster, that’s like having a 5th starter. But Stokes, who would have been the first choice, is too valuable in the 7th-8th innings.
I hate the idea of having 12 pitchers on an October roster, esp. when one of them is Figueroa or Knight. But without being able to count on Pedro to go 6, and without Wagner, it’s 6 relievers (Ayala - Stokes - Feliciano - Smith - Heilman - Schoenweis) plus the long man. Do you keep Sanchez too? Or 2 long men?
Then, for the position players, it’s 2 catchers, Easley & Castillo, Delgado, Wright, Reyes, Beltran, Church, Tatis & Chavez for 11 players. Who are the other 2? Do you keep A. Reyes to have another infielder? Marlon Anderson, for whatever his great inspiration role was? Murphy and/or Evans (I’d pick Murphy, FWIW, since there are more RHP than LHP, and I’d rather see Murphy hit vs LHP than see Evans vs RHP).
sigh…
You type faster than I . . .
i think a reyes is gonna be taking castillo’s spot which lets u keep both murphy and evans (i think)
and as far as the bullpen, keep sanchez and figgy
Speaking of which, how many men are on the playoff roster and can we carry, say, 15 pitchers?
Also, is it starting to look like Pedro should be left off the playoff roster (if there is one?). I’d think Santana, OP and Pelfrey would be the starters with Maine down, and a limited Maine could work out of the ‘pen. Pedro needs a long time to warm up, which hurts him in the pen and he usually isn’y “on” early which is a strike against him as well.
Ayala and Stokes have both really impressed me.
Stokes throws some real gas…
I would like to see Manuel continuing to use Heilman/Sho/Smith/Feliciano as L/R specialists and use Stokes/Ayala as 8th/9th inning guys.
Maybe even include Sanchez in that 8th inning role.
He has pitched pretty well of late.
Any news on John Maine? Is he officially done for the year, or any chance he is due back?
Johan, Ollie, Big Pelf look strong, worried about 2 more starters as Pedro hasn’t shown much of late.
from what i heard maine is scheduled to come back on time from the DL
Cmon cerrone… What kind of question is that. Of course we all feel most comfortable with the guy who’s filled in beautifully as the closer.
And what was Aaron Heilman and Scott Schoenweis even on that list for? Any1 who voted for them was clearly joking around.
Nelson Figueroa? Huh?
Why is Reyes not on this list…I know we’ve yet to see him, but he has more closing experience than anyone left in this pen. We should at least dust him off.
I am not sure Wagner has ever proved he has big game chops…I think of the reaction when Isringhausen went down in 2006 for the Cardinals and how it turned out to be the best thing that happened to them. no way they make that run with Izzy in there.
They got creative with Wainwright and it paid off. Maybe Ayala is that guy, but why not look at Parnell….or Niese. Or even Maine if it suits his injury issues?
This could be a blessing in disguise…making smart decisions at the end of games instead of putting all of our trust in a guy who has never really delivered in crunch time.
I’m tired of doing this, but seemingly can’t stop myself: in ‘06, he did his job every time but once in the playoffs (and so came through in the biggest games of the season), and every time we played Atlanta - games which were huge to most of us at the time. LAst year he blew two pretty big games, and he’s not Mariano, no one is; but he has, in fact, got some big game chops. This isn’t personal to you, don’t mean to sound like it is, but this drives me nuts.
It seems as if Pedro is becoming a bit like Glavine last year, shudder to think but let me explain.
He’s effective against weak offensive teams or overly aggresive line ups like the Marlins. Unfortunately against Philly he’s facing a team with a lot of good hitters that can also be patient. Howard and Burrell rack up their fair share of K’s but they can be lethal when they actually put the bat on the ball.
That being said it bodes well that for the next few series we’re facing less than stellar hitting teams.
Problems might arise in the playoffs, but by that point Pedro would be the #4 starter.
What happened to Claudio Vargas? I know he was injured, but is there any forecast for if/when he’s due back. He’s not great, but I thought he was better than any of the other fill-in options we’ve had for the 5th starter (Figgy, Niese, Knight).
My main concern right now is whether or not Maine comes back. We will really need him over those last 17 games without a break… I like Niese and his stuff, but I’m not sure he’s the guy to be in there when we need a big win over the Braves or especially the Cubs or Marlins over those last 7 games.
I think we can make it in the playoffs with Santana, Pelfrey and Perez going in a 3-man rotation and Pedro starting a game or 2 if he has to, but we could really use Maine’s arm to get us there in the first place.
Come to think of it, I don’t envy Jerry Manuel having to tell Pedro that he won’t be a go-to guy in the post-season, although Petey would probably understand.
yeah, i’m just looking for the philly fan, fil.e and his guy lvr stepbrother. i can’t find him anywhere. he was so aggressive yesterday afternoon. where is he?
I have said this before but its worth repeating:
The mets ballpen is the opposite of bily wagner. They pitch badly in april-august and are lights out in september.
I like stokes hes throws harder.
ayala gets the first two outs then people get on,I think we are lucky he has been this good.
Can I answer “none of the above?” Ayala has dona a nice job, but his role as closer shouldn’t be “etched in stone” as Willie Randolph would say. Go with the hot hand. Ayala’s working right now, but I wouldn’t leave him out there when he’s struggling just because he’s been named the “closer.” Manuel’s done a great job taking advantage of matchups and flexibility. He’s got 13 guys beyond the outfield wall now. He should continue to mix and match.
agree. if ayala doesnt get ‘r done, hand it to someone else.
all of these guys should have short leashes.
do you think the bullpen guys actually prefer to not have wagner around?
Remember Sanchez comments from last week when asked about the bullpen?
Wagner can be dominant, but he has also blown a ton of games. Thinking the bullpen may be bonding and coming up big.
Who knows.
I think Most would want Billy Benitez back, but, this pen is pitching well now…..maybe his injury was just what these guys needed.
(or maybe i am just having a residual effect from all the beers yesterday)
I have sooo much confidence in Ayala, it’s kind of scary. I mean, even that shaky save vs the Marlins I knew he’d get out of it. He seems to be an okay guy. As Jerry says, as long as he throws STRIKES..we’re good to go!!!
And I love how other guys like Figgy and Stokes are stepping up to the plate giving guys like Smith and Erin rest. I’m been proud of the pen, I’ll admit. Let’s see how long it last, of course!
Heilman does have an impressive 9.7 K/9IP… that said, of course I didn’t vote for him. 4.9 BB/9IP!
Hmmm…Wonder why my last post, critical of the accuracy of the report on Billy Wagner didn’t show up here.
For good measure, let me say again:
The report on what ESPN’s John Miller said on last night’s airing of the Mets-Phillies game about Billy Wagner’s simulated game session was not accurately reported by metsblog.
The post reads as if Wagner was “in tears,” emotionally reacting to prematurely ending his session.
In fact, Miller said Wagner reported “tearing up” because the pain was so great when he was throwing his last pitches.
It would greatly help this site, which I avidly read and for the most part enjoy, if its reporters paid greater attention to what’s going on and follow up with questions of sources if they’re not sure of the statements.
It would greatly help the site’s credibility.
You’re criticizing Metsblog for not being specific as to why Wagner was teary eyed when the source who may have given a specific reason is the same broadcasting team who made a major blunder when saying that Castillo was new to the NL after he left the Twins :?:
That’s rich. And pretty nit-picky.
What you’re complaining about is peanuts compared to the errors we see from the Miller-Morgan broadcasting team on a weekly basis.
Feliciano and Smith should have been on that poll over Schoenweis and Heilman. Still though, Luis Ayala is our closer. Brian Stokes is our number two option. And than Feliciano and Smith come after. And in my opinion, Schoenweis and Sanchez.
Luis looks like he knows what he’s doing out there. The blown save in Philly bothered me a little, but that’s the only point where he’s blown a save to this point. It’s possible Ayala at some point may not pitch as well, but if that’s the case than give the ball to Brian. Figueroa’s the long man for now.
After much reading/lurking, a few thoughts:
* Agree 1000% that Jerry needs to work the hot hand w/o defined “roles”.
* Ayala has been a nice surprise and helped reaffirm Omar’s skills as a garage sale genius, and agree that he has exuded confidence and balls on the mound, BUT…I will be very interested to hear from the hardcore Ayala fans who commented above after the first few times he blows a game for us badly. IMO all it will take is a few horrid outings for everyone to crave Wags again. Speaking of which…
* Despite an ERA that occasionally goes one or two points north of 0.00 (gasp), Wags has been a LOT more valuable to this team for the past three seasons than the entire remainder of the bullpen, AND much more valuable than the once-great Pedro Martinez to boot. If I had to choose between Ayala as closer + Pedro as starter vs. Wags as closer + an Ayala type to replace Pedro in the rotation I’d pick the latter in a heartbeat. Personally I like Petey the dude, the personality, the smile, the clubhouse guy, etc but I am so DONE with Petey the alleged “arm”. Jeezus H Christ what a waste of money. Almost every time he starts I feel like we are at a disadvantage. You just knew there was no way he was going to beat Moyer last night, and that took a lot of the fun out of even watching the damn game.
* “Heilman” as a verb, too funny. FWIW I have always felt bad for Heilman and that he’s taken a disproportionate share of the blame for Mets’ woes last few seasons. That said, either give him a shot at starting (which he really really really wants to do) or trade the bee-otch already! It’s obvious he’s pissed/sad/mopey/whatever about his “role” in NY, so either change it and give him one last chance to prove himself dump him and move on. Enough is enough. And while we’re at it, why is Schoeneweis still here? He was public enemy #2 last year behind Mota. I can’t believe we keep trotting that deadbeat out there.