Make-The-Mets-O-Meter: Week 3 - Pitchers

by Eric Simon on Mar 12, 2009 8:00 AM EDT

Check out yesterday's post for this week's MTMOM for batters.

Player		Comment
Michael Antonini, LHP		No runs allowed, but just two innings of work so far.
Adam Bostick, LHP		Four walks and two runs in two innings. There's a reason he isn't getting too many chances.
Rocky Cherry, RHP*		One run allowed in four innings. Just one strikeout but, again, just four innings.
Valerio De Los Santos, LHP		A coupla runs in 4.1 innings, De Los Santos has actually been given quite a bit of work so far.
Matt DeSalvo, RHP		Gave up a solo homerun and little else in five innings this spring. He won't make the team out of camp but if he were actually competing for a spot he'd have something to say about it.
Elmer Dessens, RHP		He's been playing with Mexico in the WBC, which can't exactly be helping his chances of making the Mets. Not that he really had one anyway.
Nelson Figueroa, RHP		Was playing for Panama until that team was eliminated from WBC contention. He'll wind up in Buffalo.
Casey Fossum, LHP		Six strikeouts in 5.2 innings are nice. Seven hits, a walk and two HBP plus four runs allowed are crummy.
Freddy Garcia, RHP		20.25 ERA. That is all.
Dillon Gee, RHP		Gee has looked pretty good this spring. He had one tough inning that was exacerbated by some Swiss-cheese fielding by the Mets.
Livan Hernandez, RHP		Hernandez is leading the team with 7.2 innings pitched. And nine hits allowed. And he's fat.
Brandon Knight, RHP*		Knight is just getting his reps in before reporting to Triple-A/his next career.
Eddie Kunz, RHP*		Hasn't been too ruff™, actually.
Tom Martin, LHP		Strained his right calf last week. Outlook not so good.
Carlos Muniz, RHP*		Hasn't been good, but hey, it's his birthday! Happy 27th, Carlos!
Jon Niese, LHP*		I like the kid, but he's losing the numbers game, both in his individual numbers (they're bad) and the fact that there are a few guys ahead of him on the depth chart.
Darren O'Day, RHP*		Leading Mets relievers with 6.0 innings tossed, he has only allowed one run and walked one and has been getting plenty of groundballs.
Bobby Parnell, RHP*		Six walks in three innings. Yikes.
Connor Robertson, RHP*		Q: Only two innings pitched. Is that a bad sign? A: Yes, yes it is.
Heriberto Ruelas, LHP		As many runs allowed as innings pitched (3).
Kyle Snyder, RHP		Nine baserunners in five innings = report to minor league camp posthaste.
Brian Stokes, RHP*		One run, three strikeouts, no walks, five innings.
John Switzer, LHP		Just taking up space.

Key:
= Chance of making the Mets is unchanged.
= Chance of making the Mets is going down.
= Chance of making the Mets is going up.
* = player on 40-man roster

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Comments

Carlos Muniz

is 27?!?! wasnt he just 18 last year, god he’s been around/going nowhere forever.

Where’s Ron Villone? Sorry. but unless Will Ohman or Joe Biemel signs out of nowhere, he’s making this team, Casey Fossum is not. As I said yesterday, I gotta believe the bullpen is K-Rod, Putz, Green, Feliciano, Stokes, Villone, O’Day/Redding/Only 6.

I’d say the mets probably want Redding to win the 5th job and Livan to accept an extended spring/AAA assignment so they can keep O’Day rather than giving him back to the Angels. Although I’d rather lose O’Day than carry a bench with 3 LH hitters, Tatis and Castro.

by mets81 on Mar 12, 2009 10:02 AM EDT reply actions

Villone

He should probably be on this list, but he wasn’t with the team when we started these and he’s only tossed one inning so far, so the likelihood of him making the team out of camp is pretty slim.

by Eric Simon on Mar 12, 2009 10:20 AM EDT up reply actions

Ugh outside of the 8th & 9th

That bullpen doesn’t inspire much confidence.

by Gina on Mar 12, 2009 11:53 AM EDT up reply actions

what bullpen does?

Seriously, going into a season, do any bullpens look completely solid? Having a lock down 8th and 9th makes the Mets bullpen better than most regardless of the performance of the others, and I guarantee you the Mets will get surprisingly good performances out of at least 1 more guy. Look at the Phillies: 2 years ago their bullpen was supposed to be their weakness, and by the end of the season it was a strength, and it got even better last year.

by cjmulrain on Mar 12, 2009 12:19 PM EDT up reply actions

I think most bullpens look decently solid

I think our problem is we still have a lot of guys who have to prove they can pitch to more than one side of the plate, which is basically the same problem we had last year. Before Duaner was cut it seemed like he, if healthy which he obviously wasn’t, could be that guy who could come in and pitch a pitch a full inning before the 8th/9th. Now we’ve got a lot of question marks who had extreme platoon splits, albiet most of them are small sample sizes.

And the fact that Jerry is apparently known for ignoring platoon splits with relievers doesn’t really help.

by Gina on Mar 12, 2009 12:43 PM EDT up reply actions

I'm bullish on Green

I’d also like to see O’Day make the club, but I guess I just have a thing for groundballers.

by Eric Simon on Mar 12, 2009 12:33 PM EDT up reply actions

Me too

On both. It stinks that both Stokes and O’Day are (essentially) out of options because I think they’re kind of both playing for the same BP spot (with Stokes way ahead) because I increasingly think Livan will be the 5th Starter, leaving Redding in the Bullpen.

by mets81 on Mar 12, 2009 12:48 PM EDT up reply actions

O'Day is a Rule 5-er

So he has to stay with the Mets all year or be offered back to the Angels.

by Eric Simon on Mar 12, 2009 12:58 PM EDT up reply actions

Yup

that’s what I meant by essentially out of options because the Mets can’t send him down. I believe Stokes is actually out of options, although maybe he’ll clear. I think the mets like stokes better from a “isn’t a sidearmer so theoretically can get lefties out” perspective.

I’ve never been a huge fan of Omar’s bullpen construction philosphies or practice so I don’t really see him doing the right thing here, which in my opinion is: make redding either the 5th starter or send him to extended spring because of an injury (or go back in time and not sign him to a major league deal) and carry K-rod, putz, green, feliciano, stokes, o’day and fossum. That or sign Joe Beimel/Will Ohman/both and put feliciano on a boat and push it out to sea (where he’ll inevitably walk the first batter he faces after coming in).

Maybe it was Willie’s influence (because he certainly practiced it on the field), but even despite Omar’s continued statements about liking guys who can get both sides out he hasnt ever really shown that in practice. He raves/d about Schoenwies and Feliciano as lefties that can get out righthanders (which they can’t) and let a guy like D. Oliver (who did get both out) go. Plus, we know he loves his aging veterans, so I see Villone making it and O’day going back.

by mets81 on Mar 12, 2009 1:40 PM EDT up reply actions

In Feliciano's defense

He actually has been able to get right handers out, he just couldn’t this year for whatever reason. And in Omar’s defense last year we had Duaner and Heilman who have been able to pitch to both sides but struggled last year.

And he also hasn’t gone out and blown any big money on one out guys this off-season, even though I agree we need more guys who can pitch to both sides at least he’s realizing, I hope or maybe we just don’t have the cash, one out guys can be found nearly anywhere. Not to mention I don’t see how Beimel, or Ohman either, are much of an improvement over Feliciano.

by Gina on Mar 12, 2009 2:07 PM EDT up reply actions

He did an OK

Job in 2007 and had a ridiculous 2006, but that was 3 seasons ago. Ohman and Biemel would both be a huge improvement over Feliciano (who I admittedly have a semi-irrational Aaron Heilman-level hatred of) they are both, incidently, younger and both comming off much better seasons (Beimel’s era+ was over 200 last year!, although that’s was a bit lucky) Feliciano should not be pitching to rh unless there’s 2 out and nobody on and his spots up next inning. Ohman has been a pretty solid two-way guy his entire carreer.

Omar doesn’t deserve much defense for that (although Heilman should have been able to get LH’s out with his change-up) – as he shouldn’t have been relying on Sanchez and kind of fell int he same trap that most fans did (I know I did) in remembering how f-in good he was the first half of ‘06 (heir apparent closer good) and forgetting how difficult shoulder injuries are to return from for power pitchers and the fact that Sanchez hasn’t approached the velo he had before the ill-fated taxi ride.

And while he hasn’t made a Schoenwies-level “even though I said I wouldnt sign relievers to 3 year deals, im going to sign this LHP to a three year deal who has never gotten rh’s out and declare that he can, forcing my scared/bad manager into using him that way” mistake, he hasn’t really impressed me with any kind of desire to fix his LOOGY/ROOGY tendancies with the addition of Fossum, Green, O’Day. He did bring Villone (who while he has been used as a LOOGY lately, has always done OK against rh’s) so maybe that would be a start if he wasnt 10000 years old.

by mets81 on Mar 12, 2009 3:07 PM EDT up reply actions

Beimels era is pretty decieiving

His peripherals are pretty bad, his xFIP is much higher. I’d much rather just stick with Felciano cause I doubt beimel will be any better, if at all this year, and Ohman had even splits ast year but in 07, 06 and 05 they were pretty massive.

by Gina on Mar 12, 2009 3:22 PM EDT up reply actions

As for

Beimel, I agree he was lucky last year, but had good #s the few years before that in ’07 and ’06.

Ohman’s splits were massive, but just becuse he was getting LH’s out so well – other than 2007 he has been pretty good against RH’s too, and his BABIP against RH was ridiculously high that year (about 60 pts higher than his career ave) so there is some evidence that was flukey.

Feliciano wasnt just bad last year he was unbelievabley bad – .450 OBP and .560 SLG against RH!

by mets81 on Mar 12, 2009 4:24 PM EDT up reply actions