Mack Ade – Randon Thoughts – Gee, Parnell, Edgin, Leather, Cuts, Fulmer

Dillon Gee told me one spring “Mack, for every 10 outings, we have two great ones, two bad ones, and the rest are average.”

Pitchers frankly don’t know exactly if their ‘stuff’ is going to work the day they pitch until they get on the rubber in the bullpen and start warming up. Look at RA Dickey on the Team USA game against Mexico. He stayed extra late in the pen because the knuckler was, well, just not knuckling. It proved costly as early as the first batter.

All this leads up to Bobby Parnell. We know a closer can’t be successful unless he believes in what he’s pitching and I have a funny feeling that, after Jason Isringhausen got a hold of him, things are finally coming around here.

The Mets may be building their bullpen from back forward. If Parnell proves to be successful as the closer, I would think that Frank Francisco will eventually come back as the 2013 8^th inning specialist. This would set up Josh Edgin as the 7^th inning guy.

I have the 2014 solution for the replacement for Francisco in 2014 so I’m going to start bringing up this name more often than I have in the past.

Jack Leathersich.

You’ve heard me mention him before.

Jack is a college boy (5-11, LHP, University of Mass-Lowell) that will pitch 2013 as a 22-year old. He was drafted in the 5^th round of the 2011 draft and has now pitched two full seasons in the Mets organization for Brooklyn, Savannah, and St. Lucie.

His stat line:  2.65, 1.08, 85.0-IP, 139-K, 35-BB, SO9-14.25.

By the way… a 14.25 SO9 is higher than any pitcher in the history of major league baseball (#1 Randy Johnson: 10.6098, #2 Kerry Wood: 10.3174, #3 Pedro Martinez: 10.03980).

“Leather” will begin the 2013 season in Binghamton, but I expect him to most fact. Paul DePodesta is already quoted saying this spring that he expects Leathersich to finish this season in Queen. I do too. He carries himself with the same confidence Josh Edgin did when he went through the affiliates.

You know how much I preach about those “three great relievers” you need on a playoff team.

Josh Edgin, Jack Leathersich, and Bobby Parnell may be that future threesome for the Mets.

The Mets “cuts” were the right ones. All (Collin McHugh, Darin Gorski, Gonzalez Germen, Hansel Robles, Elvin Ramirez, Zack Wheeler, Reese Havens, Juan Lagares, Wilfredo Tovar Cesar Puello) were minor leaguers that have afuture in the organization.

The Wheeler move was specifically the right move. Yes, it is tied to the oblique problem but, as they used to say in Ozone Park, ‘it is what it is’.

At some point some of the ‘invitees’ are going to have to be moved to the 40-man which could be bad news for Havens and Ramirez.


About Monday's game...

Don't get crazy about the score. It's just a spring training game where most of the runs were scored by players (in the late innings) trying to make each squad.

Concentrate on the starters and pitchers...  Niese's good start...   Familia's continued control...  the positive return of Mejia...  and, glance at the batting averages of the main everyday players... they are rising.

March has, so far, been much better than February.


The placement of Michael Fulmer on the DL anywhere from 3-13 weeks) sets up the 6-man St. Lucie rotation as Hansel Robles, Jake deGrom, Domingo Tapia, Luis Mateo, Logan Verrett, and Alex Panteliodes.