Johan to the rescue!

With the inconsistent Oliver Perez shouldering a heavy workload in the World Baseball Classic and the "man I wish that guy was as consistent as Ollie Perez" John Maine struggling to return from shoulder surgery (try saying that 5 times fast), the Mets starting pitching rotation was starting to look a little thin beyond Johan Santana and the potential of Mike Pelfrey. Then came the news in late February that Johan had some discomfort in his elbow and danger sirens started sounding everywhere. 30 year old pitchers with elbow problems and 6 years, $137.5 million remaining on their contracts tend to be something of an anchor weighing down a pitching staff, especially when the lineup behind your ace looks like this:



But in this article in the New York Post, we hear that Johan is pitching pain free and using all of his pitches, a sign that he is raring to go come opening day a scant 2 weeks away. Somehow, and maybe this is just me, this image inspires more confidence:

Good thing they play in a pitcher's park

The Mets and Nationals concluded their brief series at Shea last night, following a 10-8 affair with a 13-10 slugfest. The 41 combined runs was a record for a two game series in Queens, a fact that I made up and can't be bothered to verify. That's good math skills though, I did that in my head. Mike Pelfrey and Odalis Perez proved it is a bad idea to stay up all night drinking tequila lamenting why David Wright won't return their calls by giving up a combined 12 runs in 8 total innings of work. Amazingly, Pelfrey left the game after 5 innings in line for the victory before Aaron Heilman did what Aaron Heilman does and surrendered the lead on a 2 run homer. Fortunately, Saul Rivera and Joel Hanrahan are desparate to get out of Washington, and gave their best audition for slots in the Mets 2009 bullpen by surrendering 6 runs in the final two innings.

It is a little unfair to the Mets overworked bullpen that had been outstanding during the team's recent hot streak, but working with Oliver Perez and Pelfrey to surrender 18 runs to the Nationals is no small feat. The cellar dwellers from our nation's capital rank near the bottom in major league baseball in most offensive categories.

Didn't see that coming!

If you had asked me in the offseason, I'd have told you that former first round pick Mike Pelfrey was a number 4 or 5 starter at best, and maybe destined for a long career as a middle reliever. Now he is leading the first place (well, for now) New York Mets in wins after his first career complete game, against the rival Braves no less. Now granted this isn't your mid-90s era Braves, but having a 6'7" kid with a power sinker never hurts. He finally figured out that he just needs to throw the ball over the middle of the plate and let his natural stuff do the work. Even with Johnny Maine struggling with soreness in his pitching arm, the Mets sport a fearsome starting rotation headlined by Johan Santana, followed by some combination of Oliver Perez, Big Pelf, and the still effective Pedro Martinez. I'd put that starting rotation up there with anyone in the National League in a short series. Now about that bullpen...

Paper tigers

I didn't really see that coming. The Mets entire team managed to round into form at the same time, taking a 9 game winning streak into the All Star break. Of course, the last 6 of those 9 games have come against hapless NL West opponents, but sweeping consecutive series at home is no small feat. The 9 game winning streak is the team's longest since they last won the National League in 2000 and along the way the Mets became the first team in the modern era (post 1900) to give up 3 or fewer hits in 5 consecutive games.

So what does it all mean? In the end...not a whole heck of a lot. The Mets won some games they are supposed to win and look to have the talent to be right near the top of a weak NL East. A break here and there, some good luck with their health and this team can absolutely win the division and make the playoffs.

Far and away the most exciting part of the recent hot streak is the apparent emergence of Mike Pelfrey, a Mets first round pick who until very recently had struggled at the major league level. Thanks to some tremendous run support, Pelfrey is now the proud owner of a personal 6 game winning streak, but beyond that has looked downright dominant at times. He has given up 1 earned run over his last 3 starts, including 7 innings of shutout ball against the Cardinals last week and 8 shutout innings against the Rockies last night. The idea of Pelfrey, who has all the physical tools, working as an effect #2 or #3 starter on a contending team has to have Mets fans everywhere giddy. In fact, in no small part because Pelfrey's contribution, you can now show this much of your face with pride as a Mets fan:

Billy Wagner makes the baby jebus cry

Has it really been a week since I posted? Oops. Over the weekend, the Mets got swept in a 4 game series by the moribund San Diego Padres. The Mets lost the first three games by identical 2-1 scores before Wagner blew a potential 4 out save Sunday afternoon, turning a 6-4 lead into an 8-6 loss. The losing streak stretched to 5 games when the thunderstorm Tuesday night failed to protect a 5-3 lead, yielding 2 runs during the delay before the Diamondbacks won going away 9-5.

Last night Mike Pelfrey took a shutout into the 9th inning, but left after giving up a leadoff single. Why was Pelf still pitching in the 9th inning of a 3 run game after having thrown 112 pitches? Fucked if I know! But there he was, and in came Wagner, trotting from the bullpen for an easy save. Strikeout, double, strikeout, home run and the game is tied. The Mets would eventually win in the bottom of the 13th inning on a Carlos Beltran walk off home run, but you really wish Pelfrey could have been rewarded for a pitching line that saw him go 8+ innings and give up 1 earned run (that scored on the home run).

Warning, actual technical baseball analysis ahead! So why has Wagner struggled so much recently when he's been lights out all year? Billy made a change to his delivery in the offseason, pitching from a full windup instead of the stretch. However, if runners are on base, he has to go back to the stretch delivery he's used in years past. Coming in for save situations to start innings, there are no runners on base. His last two appearances he has come in with runners on and given up home runs. Unfortunately, it seems that Wagner is almost entirely ineffective at this point in his career pitching from the stretch, which would be key in the event the Mets actually made the postseason. This means Willie can't use his best reliever with runners on base. Gah! Anyway, end technical baseball analysis.

However, I'm positive kind of guy (cough) so let's focus on the positives. First off, major kudos to Pelfrey who turned in his third straight solid start. Considering he's the only pitching prospect the Mets have, they need him to prove he can consistently win games at the major league level. Second, big props to Beltran for coming through in the bottom of the 13th with two outs. This guy has take a lot of heat over the years because of the size of his contract so I love to see him get those big hits. And finally let's talk about the bullpen who kept the Diamonbacks off the board after Wagner choked on a fat dick leading to Beltran's 13th inning heroics.