Jason Isringhausen's Unsurprising Return to Earth

by Chris McShane on Aug 4, 2011 10:00 AM EDT

If you had only been looking at his ERA this year, Jason Isringhausen would have looked like a pretty, pretty good relief pitcher, but the fact that his ERA jumped over a run in just two appearances shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who's been looking at his peripherals.

Isringhausen's return to the Mets was the feel-good story of spring training, and the fact that the Mets have gotten this much production from him for such a small amount of money is a credit to Sandy Alderson's administration, particularly J.P. Ricciradi, who watched him pitch and thought he was worth signing to a minor league deal.

Through the end of June, Isringhausen's ERA was significantly lower than his FIP or xFIP suggested it should be, mainly because he wasn't striking batters out while walking way too many of them. Since the beginning of July, his strikeouts per nine innings has risen, but he's still walking too many opponents to be considered a great relief pitcher.

Here's a comparison of Isringhausen's cumulative ERA by appearance and his FIP and xFIP on the season (click to embiggen):

Wacky things can happy with relief pitchers since they throw so few innings over the course of a season, but it's definitely more likely that Isringhausen struggles a bit more than he succeeds for the remainder of the year. There's a reason that Sandy Alderson wasn't blown away with a trade offer for Isringhausen, after all.

All of this is not to say that Isringhausen is an awful relief pitcher, but at the very least, it's time for Terry Collins to hand over the closer gig to Bobby Parnell. Of course, I'd prefer that the Mets take the lead in abandoning that title, but short of that, it'd be nice to see the team's best current relief pitcher take over what is perceived to be the most important job in the bullpen.

Looking ahead, Alderson's Mets figure to invest significantly less money in a closer than the Minaya Mets did, something that was obvious when the season began but became even clearer when Franicsco Rodriguez was sent to the Brewers. During the game on Tuesday night, there was some discussion in the SNY booth about whether or not Parnell should stay in the game with the tying runner on second base in the eighth inning, and Keith Hernandez said, rather emphatically, that you have to leave him in because he's the closer of the future. Keith was right.

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Tired Arms

The team is suffering from tired arms. Most of the pitchers have not pitched this deep into the season in years.

Izzy last pitched in 2009
Capuano pitched in 24 games last year and only started 9 games.
This is Gee first full season in the majors.
Beato is a rookie.

What should we expect?

by TheMagus on Aug 4, 2011 11:13 AM EDT reply actions

Way to miss the point of the post

There is no need to come up with a theory involving any change in Isringhausen’s pitching, arm, Zodiac sign, or anything else to explain what is basically just a regression to the mean.

by anonymous on Aug 4, 2011 12:41 PM EDT up reply actions 2 recs

Gee and Beato would have still been pitching in the minors

they have pitched this late into the season – Gee was pitching for the Mets last september even

I LIKE IKE!

by astromets on Aug 4, 2011 1:50 PM EDT up reply actions

Sorry

But I am stating the obvious. Izzy is great team member that has been out of baseball for a year. His arm is tiring. Capuano has a history of arm injuries. We managed to get a lot out of him this season but he has hit a wall.

Izzy and Capuano will work through the wall.

Gee and Beato are still new to the rigors of the big show. It takes time to be physically and mentally ready.

Parnell has a great arm but is still learning the craft of pitching. I don’t he is ready for the closer role.

by TheMagus on Aug 4, 2011 2:45 PM EDT up reply actions

Its not that you are stating the obvious (which you aren't)

The point of the article is not that Izzy is just recently pitching worse, its that he’s been pitching about the say and his recent results are catching up to that.

by Balagast on Aug 4, 2011 3:06 PM EDT up reply actions

Gee pitched 194.1 innings last season.

154.1 in 2008.

Save Jenrry Mejia!
Keep Reyes, Trade Wilpon.

by Ogre39666 on Aug 4, 2011 4:21 PM EDT up reply actions

now you are adding on about Parnell?

he really is the best pitcher in our pen right now. Come up for some evidence for what you are saying, don’t just use the same old cliches. Obviously, both Cap and Izzy were risks based on their recent injuries, but that is why they came cheap and to the Mets. Up to this point, they both have been better than expected, but they are still injury risks based on recent history, and we have no idea if this hitting is a wall or them breaking down right before a big injury happens.

Not saying that Gee and Beato can’t hit a wall, just that it usually doesn’t happen to rookies for another few weeks/month, and these 2 are far from where their wall should be (see Ogres comment)

I LIKE IKE!

by astromets on Aug 4, 2011 4:28 PM EDT up reply actions

Based on the chart above…

…it looks to me like 3.50 is Izzy’s ‘natural’ level these days. I can live with that for a middle reliever, but not for a closer.

And I agree with Chris that I’d like to see a return to the role of ‘fireman’, though not with the talent we have now. The whole ‘closer’ concept really doesn’t make much sense. Since the team that scores first usually wins, wouldn’t it make more sense to use your ‘closer’ to pitch the first inning of every game, at least at home? That way the poor, over-extended manager has fewer decisions to make about when (or if) to bring him in, and he’ll always know when to warm up.

(The previous was an attempt to poke fun at the closer concept, and wasn’t meant to be taken seriously. Keep in mind that the closer concept was invented by an alcoholic, and evaluate it accordingly.)

by Curtis3331 on Aug 4, 2011 11:39 AM EDT reply actions

they'll use Izzy until he gets his 300th save

after that, hopefully they insert Parnell and see what he can do

"Fantasy, reality, science Fiction. Which is which? Who can tell?"

by feslenraster on Aug 4, 2011 12:32 PM EDT reply actions

Isringhausen's veteran status may count for something

Collins has stated that he loves how he works with Parnell and Beato, teaching them his approach both verbally and by example. It’s a pretty old school idea and I wonder if it really makes a difference. My hunch is that it doesn’t—he can probably be a great influence from the 7th or 8th inning—but in a lost season, I at least approve of the sentiment.

by TheBigStapler on Aug 4, 2011 2:06 PM EDT reply actions

do you guys think izzy should of been traded

by jadedeed2327 on Aug 4, 2011 2:31 PM EDT reply actions

Pet peeve of mine

It’s “should have,” not “should of,” and yes, he should have been traded.

by Evan_S on Aug 4, 2011 10:06 PM EDT up reply actions

Pet peeve of mine

Write-only posters who show up, don’t read the post, and just drop a single-sentence semiliterate flamebait WFAN-caller question into each and every thread, then leave again, presumably without reading any of the answers either.

by anonymous on Aug 4, 2011 10:56 PM EDT up reply actions 3 recs

I lol'd

by Evan_S on Aug 4, 2011 11:10 PM EDT up reply actions

No

because he might not have accepted the assignment, and simply retired. Also, if he is willing to pitch next season, Izzy is worth keeping for bullpen depth.

__________________________________________________
"He who gets the best players usually wins" - Bobby Bowden

by Russ on Aug 5, 2011 10:58 AM EDT up reply actions

I've been interested to know what Izzy's numbers are when he pitches back to back

Looks like he’s pitched 9 2/3 innings and given up 7 runs in 10 appearances. SSS, but I don’t think he should ever pitch on consecutive nights. And it shouldn’t even matter if he has a good/clean inning the night before. Sit him.

by David G on Aug 4, 2011 6:04 PM EDT reply actions