Jerry Manuel said today that John Maine will return to the starting rotation – and not go to the bullpen – when he is activated from the disabled list, according to Adam Rubin of ESPN New York.
…maine must be back on the roster in around three weeks, according to roster rules… and so, he has three weeks to get him velocity up and get command of his pitches… if he doesn’t, i’m not sure what the Mets will do… like i’ve been saying, they want Hisanori Takahashi back in the bullpen… i suppose maine could one or two starts, then get time off during the All-Star break, at which point we’ll be a week or so away from the July 31 Trade Deadline…
To get other pre-game notes, including Chris Carter’s future at DH, Ruben Tejada’s future at second, and the latest on Carlos Beltran, read Rubin’s blog, here.
Maine can still be options to the minors… so if he is not big league ready then the answer is obviously to keep him in AAA.
Just like they did with Murphy after his rehab stint was over.
what? Murphy had options and ultimately he was hurt.
This should at least partially placate the Jerry Manuel Must Go rage from the lineup thread. He’s already announced that Tejada gets the next two starts and that he started Cora for match up reasons tonight. He even said he wants to find more ways to get Carter’s bat into the lineup in the NL.
There are many reasons to hate Jerry (most of them revolve around the bullpen…which he is actually worse at managing than Willie was….) but choosing the correct matchups and knowing which of his guys are hurt or better against certain guys…he is good at this.
When Castillo was not on the DL we didnt see Cora too much until Castillo was clearly hurt and Cora had to play more, and not just in matchup situations…Tejada can barely hit too, so once again put Cora in there if you feel the matchup is there against a young pitcher, both are good defenders, both can barely hit and you are talking about the #9 hitter its not like he’s having Tatis play 1B and hit cleanup like he did a few games ago…now THAT move was irrational.
“Jerry Manuel said today that John Maine will return to the starting rotation – and not go to the bullpen”
Of course he does.
Where are the Manuel supporters now? How can you honestly say he’s not doing a poor job when he makes decisions like this? This sounds like little league coach always playing HIS kid at pitcher, because it’s HIS kid, in spite of there being 3 better pitchers on the team.
Enough is enough Jerry. We know you love the bullpen and Maine will help you get to that bullpen by the 4th inning every other start, but everyone else knows what you seemingly can’t figure out: John Maine is no longer a starter in MLB.
actually, if you clicked the link all Manuel really said was this…
By Adam Rubin
John Maine is ticketed for the rotation, not the bullpen, when the right-hander is activated from the disabled list, manager Jerry Manuel indicated before the Mets opened a series against the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday.
Manuel suggested Maine would not be the right candidate to get up and down in a bullpen.
“I think that would probably be a little dangerous for us,” Manuel said.
So really Rubin is assuming that means Manuel favors Maine in the rotation, when really all he said was Maine was dangerous in the bullpen, not that he was brilliant as a starter.
Well, Taka clearly is not a starter…major league teams have figured him out (not AAA teams like the Os)….so Maine is a better option than Taka, and Taka is better in the pen than Maine…so if Omar doesnt make a move…I defend Jerry…
of course the best course of action would be to get a starter, move Taka to the pen and leave maine in AAA until he comes up with a 2nd pitch.
He looked better in his last start than Maine has looked all season. My question is….How many craps starts does Maine get before he is yanked back out of the rotation?
Chico, my question is…you say the Mets have 3 better pitchers on the team than Maine and then claim he shouldnt be a starter…shouldnt your claim say there are 5 better pitchers? by my count the Mets have 4 better starters on this roster…
and i’m one of the guys who would still take Millwood even after getting pummelled because he’s better than Maine.
I think it should be Takahashi getting the starting job until proven otherwise. I do hope Maine figures things out and is back to form but until then Takahashi gives the Team a chance to win. I am not sure why Manuel wants Takahashi back in the pen. Valdes, Feliciano, Perez and now Takahashi??? To many lefties.
Well, Perez is on the DL and when was the last time Valdes had a productive outing….I think Valdes is the odd man out when Maine comes back…
I am ok with Maine starting. It’s just biding time till they deal for a starter and in that package Maine could be included
Takahashi has done a solid job overall but he was pretty dang handy in the pen
I would cut Nieve all together but thats me. I know others have options
I see your point…who starts Maine or Takahashi?
If Maine can’t get his velocity up, he has no business in the rotation. If he could change speeds, maybe. Right now he is a glorified pitching machine. At least Takahashi has a few more pitches.
How many wins does Maine have?
Maine isn’t a starter! 5 innings and out, EVERY TIME OUT, does not a starter make. I guess I shouldn’t say every time out, sometimes he doesn’t even make it to the 5th inning, that was being generous on my part. He COULD be a nice reliever, but we’ll never know if Jerry doesn’t come to his senses soon.
Only two innings in the field, but five at bats for Beltran? Wow, he must have had to leave the game to pick up the beer.
Why does he keep being handed a SP spot, is my question? Shouldn’t he have to earn it like nearly everyone else?
The rotation’s been going gangbusters. The best since god knows when, and Jerry anticipates mucking it all up with Maine again? I’m not saying that Takahashi’s been lights out every 5 games, but even at his worst, I’ll take him over Maine and OP. The rotation has a great rhythm to it. The guys pick each other up, and even if Taka or Santana or whomever had an off game, the next starter gets it rolling again. The pen is finding itself and solidifying into roles, too. This is why the Mets are starting to crank out series wins and stacking up the victory total over .500.