Bullpen Woes
First Im not the first person to ever write this but Gooden Arrested…again and I probably wont be the last either so Lonestar Met would like to issue the following advise to Dwight “Doc” Gooden:
STOP BREAKING THE LAW!
Doc you will be surprised how much less time you spend in jail when you obey it. Sorry, just though you would figure it out by now.
Now that it is clear that Juan Padilla will be out with Tommy John Surgery, the Mets bullpen situation looks even shakier than it did last week. Jorge Julio’s absence from Met camp will prevent Professor Rick from tinkering with his mechanics. I doubt he will return to 2002 form: 1.99 ERA. The Duaner’s ERA to Righties doesn’t help the Mets problems. I’m not sure what the Mets will do.
We here at Lonestar Met have bugged Willie’s office to see if we could find out what the Mets were planning to do about the Bullpen. The following was transcribed from recording equipment placed in the Mets clubhouse. Willie Randolph, Omar Minaya, and Rick Peterson are in the room:
Omar: “If only there was a pitcher on staff that could get lefties out.” Picks up the roster, “Hmmm…how about Heath Bell?”
Willie: “To young, and I don’t like his face. Now keep it down I’m trying to color”
Prof Rick: “No Bell won’t work. .312 AVG vs. left-handed hitters”
Omar: “Well Maybe Bradford …”
Rick: “Nope . 410 against lefties”
Willie: “.410? Who signed that guy?”
Omar: “Don’t you have some coloring to do?” Looking back to Rick, “How bout’ Schmoll?”
Willie: “Ha Ha, Schmoll’s a funny name”
Rick: ignoring Willie, “He’s .303 against lefties”
Omar “Is there anybody on this staff that has success against Lefties”
Rick: looking through his data offers, “Wagner 128 left .173 right split”
Willie: “Yeah, my gut tells me anytime we need a stop I can use Wagner in middle relief… my gut also tells me the green crayons taste good”
Omar: “Rick, what did I tell you about giving him ideas like that? It’s not funny.”
Rick: “Sorry, Omar... Wait, Here’s something, ERA .208 Righty .236 Lefty? Not Gibson-like but not bad.”
Omar: “I’m listening”
Rick: “Says here his Name is Aaron Michael Heilman…says he wants to be a starter.”
Willie: “Hey look guys, I found a microphone under the couch”
Omar: “What the Hell”
~Static~ click
Seriously I have been giving this a lot of thought and I think the best move right now is to move Heilman to the bullpen and give Bannister a shot at the 5 slot. We only have a small shot of Bannister in spring:
2005 AAA: 8 starts 4-1 45.1 IP 48 Ks
spring so far: 9 IP, three hits, 0.00 ERA, and six strike outs.
At the risk of putting pressure on him early in his career, I think the Mets will be taking a calculated risk. I don't think a look see early in the season would do much harm after 3 years in college and 3 in the minors. It beats finding out during the stretch. More importantly the Mets can have a reliable guy out there with the ability to pitch to lefties in Heilman. I have heard rumors and speculation that there are some in the Mets organization that are behind this movement. A lot of opinion I have heard is that someone will come out of the mix to get the job, a la Roberto Hernandez. My advise to those who hail from that school of thought:
“Expect the unexpected, but don’t depend on it”
Bannister did not return to the minors on cut down day providing those fires added fuel. If any readers think this is a bad idea please feel free to comment.
The outfield battle seems to be intensifying while the second base battle defies Logic.
Sorry we didn't tell you, Kepp. We have an age thing here.
Here are links to the stories if you want to read them but trust me, it just makes you mad. Keppinger .316 spring average; Matsui .143, 3 errors.
Yeah Willie, you really keep an open mind.
You know what? Read it. Read it and get mad and then think about the angry emails you sent me accusing me of unfairly slamming Willie.
At least the battle for right is getting interesting. I honestly don’t have a favorite and I like them both. I think that a platoon situation will ultimately prevail here with Nady facing the Lefties. At least until Milledge gets to Queens and one becomes trade bait. I am glad Omar stood pat keeping the budding star a Met.
I’d also like to announce that I will be co-authoring a Texas Rangers blog with my longtime friend Tom in Ohio. Please stop by and look around time to time.
STOP BREAKING THE LAW!
Doc you will be surprised how much less time you spend in jail when you obey it. Sorry, just though you would figure it out by now.
Now that it is clear that Juan Padilla will be out with Tommy John Surgery, the Mets bullpen situation looks even shakier than it did last week. Jorge Julio’s absence from Met camp will prevent Professor Rick from tinkering with his mechanics. I doubt he will return to 2002 form: 1.99 ERA. The Duaner’s ERA to Righties doesn’t help the Mets problems. I’m not sure what the Mets will do.
We here at Lonestar Met have bugged Willie’s office to see if we could find out what the Mets were planning to do about the Bullpen. The following was transcribed from recording equipment placed in the Mets clubhouse. Willie Randolph, Omar Minaya, and Rick Peterson are in the room:
Omar: “If only there was a pitcher on staff that could get lefties out.” Picks up the roster, “Hmmm…how about Heath Bell?”
Willie: “To young, and I don’t like his face. Now keep it down I’m trying to color”
Prof Rick: “No Bell won’t work. .312 AVG vs. left-handed hitters”
Omar: “Well Maybe Bradford …”
Rick: “Nope . 410 against lefties”
Willie: “.410? Who signed that guy?”
Omar: “Don’t you have some coloring to do?” Looking back to Rick, “How bout’ Schmoll?”
Willie: “Ha Ha, Schmoll’s a funny name”
Rick: ignoring Willie, “He’s .303 against lefties”
Omar “Is there anybody on this staff that has success against Lefties”
Rick: looking through his data offers, “Wagner 128 left .173 right split”
Willie: “Yeah, my gut tells me anytime we need a stop I can use Wagner in middle relief… my gut also tells me the green crayons taste good”
Omar: “Rick, what did I tell you about giving him ideas like that? It’s not funny.”
Rick: “Sorry, Omar... Wait, Here’s something, ERA .208 Righty .236 Lefty? Not Gibson-like but not bad.”
Omar: “I’m listening”
Rick: “Says here his Name is Aaron Michael Heilman…says he wants to be a starter.”
Willie: “Hey look guys, I found a microphone under the couch”
Omar: “What the Hell”
~Static~ click
Seriously I have been giving this a lot of thought and I think the best move right now is to move Heilman to the bullpen and give Bannister a shot at the 5 slot. We only have a small shot of Bannister in spring:
2005 AAA: 8 starts 4-1 45.1 IP 48 Ks
spring so far: 9 IP, three hits, 0.00 ERA, and six strike outs.
At the risk of putting pressure on him early in his career, I think the Mets will be taking a calculated risk. I don't think a look see early in the season would do much harm after 3 years in college and 3 in the minors. It beats finding out during the stretch. More importantly the Mets can have a reliable guy out there with the ability to pitch to lefties in Heilman. I have heard rumors and speculation that there are some in the Mets organization that are behind this movement. A lot of opinion I have heard is that someone will come out of the mix to get the job, a la Roberto Hernandez. My advise to those who hail from that school of thought:
“Expect the unexpected, but don’t depend on it”
Bannister did not return to the minors on cut down day providing those fires added fuel. If any readers think this is a bad idea please feel free to comment.
The outfield battle seems to be intensifying while the second base battle defies Logic.
Sorry we didn't tell you, Kepp. We have an age thing here.
Here are links to the stories if you want to read them but trust me, it just makes you mad. Keppinger .316 spring average; Matsui .143, 3 errors.
Yeah Willie, you really keep an open mind.
You know what? Read it. Read it and get mad and then think about the angry emails you sent me accusing me of unfairly slamming Willie.
At least the battle for right is getting interesting. I honestly don’t have a favorite and I like them both. I think that a platoon situation will ultimately prevail here with Nady facing the Lefties. At least until Milledge gets to Queens and one becomes trade bait. I am glad Omar stood pat keeping the budding star a Met.
I’d also like to announce that I will be co-authoring a Texas Rangers blog with my longtime friend Tom in Ohio. Please stop by and look around time to time.
posted by Talking Head at
8:25 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home