Figgy gone, Mets call up Fossum

I'm not sure I entirely understand all of this. I didn't have much of a problem replacing O'Day with Figgy, but now replacing both of them with Fossum? That seems to be a bit much, sacrificing two legit arms to wind up with Fossum.

To be fair, Fossum was pitching well in Buffalo, just one run and five hits in 11 innings with 12 Ks and 5 BBs, starting for Buffalo.

Perhaps related to this, Ken Takahashi is off to a similar start in AAA, also giving up just one run in 10.1 innings with 9 Ks, but unlike Fossum, in relief. Maybe the Mets felt like between Fossum and Tak, they were ready to add a LHP anyway, which might be wise anyway.

about 3 years ago Mark Himmelstein 4 comments 0 recs |

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Oh well

He wasn’t the best pitcher but Figgy seemed like a good enough dude and he had a nice story. Still, I agree, this is an odd move.

'Oh yes, I know all about that duty-of-a-citizen stuff. It doesn't go. There are exceptions to every rule, and this was one of them. When a man risks his liberty to come and root at a ball-game, you've got to hand it to him. He isn't a crook. He's a fan.'

by Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright on Apr 19, 2009 7:52 PM EDT reply actions

A bit odd

Next 9 games are not against teams with an especially strong left-handed lineup that needs counter-acting. So why add a lefty now? Figgy pitched well enough to earn another start, and no idea if Pelfrey will make his next one. However, Figgy did go through this last year, and was eventually cut loose from the big club, so not altogether unexpected. But adding a lefty now is a bit puzzling.

by zmanmetfan on Apr 19, 2009 11:07 PM EDT up reply actions

O'Day

I think it’s kind of a stretch calling O’Day a “legit arm.” The guy barely hit 80 MPH and there was a reason he was a Rule 5 guy. You need to have a spot in the pen that allows for flexibility and it anyone from the pen was going to go, it was O’Day. They were eventually going to need another LH in there anyway.

Figgy pitched well today, but let’s not forget what he is. To be honest, I would have liked to have seen him pitch out of the pen. I think they need another semi-starter like Parnell who can give them multiple innings when their starters only go 5/6 innings. This way they don’t have to blow through the entire pen every single game.

by SQUAD on Apr 19, 2009 8:05 PM EDT reply actions

Exactly

That’s more the part I thought was weird, Figgy seemed like a useful piece to keep around.

But like you said, calling these guys legit is a stretch (I was trying to think of a caveat to that but got distracted and forgot, lol).

But I do agree, they need flexibility in the back of the pen. They still have Niese and Gee as a potential callup if they need a spot start, and those guys obviously have options. I’m figuring they’re assuming that eventually they’ll need to take advantage of one of those guys, which would mean cutting Fossum loose if no one is DL-bound (unless he’s pitching really well, in which case I guess you could cut Stokes), and then hopefully Takahashi will continue pitching well and he’ll then take the second lefty spot.

by Mark Himmelstein on Apr 19, 2009 8:17 PM EDT up reply actions