Sireric's Bullpen fix

by sireric on Aug 12, 2008 9:28 AM EDT

First a small rant. This does kinda go back to what I bitched about when Willie was fired, I still see this as Omar's fault. The Bullpen sucked last year and his big off-season fix was .....Matt Wise? If this team fades down the stretch due to shitty bullpen work, Omar needs a swift kick in the hindquarters out the door IMHO.

O.K. enough bitching time to start fixing.

In order to fix anything you have to diagnose the problem(s). So I will start with a brief look at each bullpen pitcher.

Wags - has been solid with the exception of a few blips. easily the best of the lot. (Keep)

Dirty - his arm is obviously tired no matter what he claims. with a little more rest down the stretch he could still be effective. (Keep)

Joe Smith - Has been very up and down, looks nasty 1 day and crappy the next. he is still young and effective vs. righties for the most part. (Keep)

Pedro2 - Has lots of value as a LOOGY but needs to avoid righties like the plague. (Keep)

Show - Ugh...need I say more (Shit Can)

Heilman - Looked like a stud after his first two appearances this year and it's been down hill since. Not sure why everyone want to make him a starter, he sucks as a reliever, what makes anybody think he would be a good starter? (Shit Can)

Big Eddie - Has looked O.K., not spectacular. Needs more MLB work, so I say...(Keep)

So going by this I would lose both Heilman and Show. I fully realize that Show has little to no trade value and would need to be DFA'd. Heilman on the other hand is the kind of guy that Dave Duncan pulls off the scarp heap and turns into a 17 game winner. Unfortunately Duncan isn't leaving the Cardinals and the Mets don't have a coach of his caliber. The Mets are really stuck because players like Fuentes and Grabow will cost an arm, leg and Mr. Met's first born, so trading is really not an option. So the Mets are left with calling up players form the minors. At this point I don't care if it's Willie Collazo, Eddie Camacho, Carlos Muniz, Ruddy Lugo, Edue Brito, or Ivan Maldonado. They can't be any worse then the slugs who are currently there. If nothing else they can eat innings and rest the 1 1/2 guys who get it done.

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Comments

To add to your last point

I’ve always believed that most pitchers in the upper minors could come in and be effective enough as a reliever to stay on the roster. Some can catch fire and can stay on for a few weeks with a 2-3 ERA.
Like, honestly, it takes intense concentration for an inning. You never know how these guys are going to react to being called up to the show. As I’m looking at it, Eddie Kunz himself was not the most effective pitcher in AA, but was called up because he was young and considered part of the future. To me, I don’t care what age a reliever is. If he’s in the minors and pitching well, give him a shot. (Hell, the same thing happened with Fernando Tatis. He was probably not the best batter in AAA, he came up because he had experience, and turned out to be a great fix. They got lucky.)
Good relief pitching is somewhat of a crapshoot. A guy can be great one year but shit the next and out of the league after that… only to make his way back later. Only true talent can put together long strings of good seasons, but some luck and “grit” (eww) can put together good performances.

Talkin' Sports

by BlackOps on Aug 12, 2008 4:44 PM EDT reply actions