Anthony McCarron | NY Daily News- The Mets bullpen has devolved into an element of their game that’s worth more hand-wringing than, say, how Steven Matz fits in or whether Matt Harvey is better than Jacob deGrom. Overall, the Mets have the seventh-ranked bullpen in baseball in ERA, but their relief ERA since Aug. 16 is 4.83. They need answers. It’d be nice to think all that high-end starting pitching could deliver the ball right to Clippard and Familia in October, but that doesn’t always work out. Parnell didn’t record an out and allowed three runs (two earned). He wasn’t the only Met reliever who didn’t retire anyone, either; Eric O’Flaherty gave up a run without an out, too.
(Chris Soto: The back end of the bullpen is in upheaval right now. However, as bad as it was last night...It was always extremely good. Right now, Terry Collins is trying to figure who he is going to take into the playoffs bullpen with him. Parnell and O'Flaherty will probably not make it, however, Goeddel was awesome, Addison Reed was excellent, and Sean Gilmartin was strong too. The three of them combined for 3.0 IP, 0 hits and 4 K. Right now those 3 plus Familia, Clippard, and Robles could be your playoff bullpen.)
(Chris Soto: Niese is, very quickly, pitching himself OUT of the playoff rotation and allowing Bartolo Colon back in as the #4 guy in a 7 game series. Not only is the command of his fastball off but his breaking pitches just don't have much bite to them right now. For a guy who's velocity is below average even for a lefty, that's devastating. To get torn apart by the bottom feeding Phillies in back to back starts terrifies me in regards to what a team like the Pirates or the Cardinals would've done to him.)
Kenneth Teape | Empire Writes Back- The Mets have decided to skip the next start of Noah Syndergaard, instead opting to insert Steven Matz back into the rotation, as he returns from his DL stint. The New York Mets have made it very clear that they want to monitor the innings of their young arms to make sure they are fresh for the playoff push and postseason run if they make it. Syndergaard has already exceeded his innings count from last season by 15, as he has thrown 152 innings including his time in the minors. It also makes sense to limit the amount of starts that Syndergaard makes on the road. His performance at and away from Citi Field have been night and day in his rookie year.
(Chris Soto: I'm ok with this entire strategy. What the Mets DO NOT want is a situation the Nationals had when Strasburg was a rookie. Strasburg was so good that he hit his inning limit in mid September and the team wouldn't use him in the playoffs. That can't happen in NY, fans would go nuts if it did. So if this is what's needed in order to preserve those innings for the playoffs.....then so be it. )
Joe Trezza | Mets.com- The Mets will send three prospects to the Arizona Fall League once the Minor League seasons end: infielder Jeff McNeil, right-hander Beck Wheeler and right-hander Ricky Jannis. Players from the Mets, Blue Jays, D-Backs, Nationals and Rockies will combine to form the Salt River Rafters, who play their games in Scottsdale, Ariz,. Binghamton pitching coach Marc Valdes will serve the same role for Salt River, which is scheduled to open Oct. 13 at home against the Scottsdale Scorpions.
(Chris Soto: The Arizona Fall League is a fun league to following during the off-season. The Mets generally send both top level prospects and guys who they think COULD be MLB contributors but aren't sure yet. Last season we saw Hansel Robles emerge as a strong RP and Dario Alvarez continued to show an ability to become a solid LOOGY for the parent club. The club will likely name at least 3-4 more guys later in the month including at least 1 top prospect. Perhaps that name will be Dominic Smith or Gavin Cecchini?)
25 comments:
Thor has shown great promise, sort of like young Nolan Ryan. Not elite yet, but on his way. Matz might easily step in and be better now. Matz has done nothing but pitch great in every outing all year so why not? Why can't he be better?
Parnell must go to the back of the line...mopping up in lopsided losses...we have a pennant to win. Mejia's stupidity kept this team from almost being a lock at this point. Credit Sandy for his Clippard and Addison moves. And, longer term, for his brilliant Sean Gilmartin Rule 5 pick up. This team has made the right moves.
Duda also jeopardizes this team by not having gone on the DL the first time around. I' m OK, I'm OK, uhh...I'm not OK. Thankfully it has not cost the team to this point.
Morning Chris -
I'm up early at the car dealer getting my wife's car worked on.
The best news right now about the Mets bullpen is the guys that Washington is using.
With the roster just expanding, I think it's early to jedison Parnell, O'Flaherty, or even Carlos Torres, but I would build a new template using Goeddell, Reed, and Gilmartin, leading up to Familia.
We all know this mess started well before the relievers, what with the poor outing by Niese and 3 errors in the field. It's a shame to waste 8 runs in one game, but why not air it out and put all your bad stuff in one game? I mean, you gotta let these guys get on victory once in awhile or Bowa will have a canary.
Of course, all this gets much easier if your starters go at least 7 and give up 3 or less...
I forgot Clippard...
I agree with Chris.
Go will some combination of Gilmartin, Goeddel, Robles, Reed, Clippard, and Familiia
I was shocked when I saw Parnell enter the game last night after we gained momentum back in a 6-4 winnable game. I just shook my head. I'm on record on this site just this week saying all he is now is batting practice and with you Mack saying I don't want to see the guy again. I just don't get it. And that lefty Eric O? Forget about it. Terry does have to figure out who can get outs leading up to Clip and Juerys but cmon. I'm stupid and I know Parnell can't do it. Bad choices by TC there after the game was winnable. Moving on... Better games ahead
Yeah I myself dont have the energy this morning to rant about terry collins decision making.
Hopefully the Mets bullpen issues are solved by additions of Reed and Goeddel......although I do also agree in general with others that starters need to be pitching into the 7th and 8th anyway.
Hopefully during playoffs the starters who are dominating can actually go 100-120 pitches as needed to help this team win like they haven't won in YEARS.
Ernest -
Agreed.
This game went to crap the minute Niese gave up 5 runs. Changes everything.
The good news is no one in this division is making any run at catching this team.
The bad news... the Mets could easily be 8.5, or 9.5 ahead in the division right now.
I can't kill TC for using those guys on in the 6th inning against Philly. They are on the roster, in his bullpen.
Would Gilmartin have been a better choice?
Obviously, yes.
But he wanted to get some intel on Bobby, who was once a very good pitcher who has worked his ass off to get back. As a former Little League manager, sometimes you have to let the fat kid pitch, just to expose it to his parents and, yes, to be fair and to give him a shot. I know this isn't Little League.
O'Flaherty makes no sense to me at this point. They keep hoping he'll find something and turn back the clock. Ain't happening this year. And poor Carlos Torres has mostly run out of gas. Age and workload. Too many times he comes into games running on only heart and fumes.
I feel that Goeddel, if truly healthy, and Reed, and Gilmartin, should be enough. TC needs to start getting their usages in order.
James Preller
Oh, btw, Thor and Ryan are not very much alike.
Thor has terrific control and if a far more refined pitcher than Ryan was during his time with the Mets.
Ryan had awful control and it actually got worse, year by year, until they finally traded him. The arm was always fabulous, a once-in-a-generation gun, but he couldn't get it together in NY with the Mets. My only problem with trading Nolan Ryan was that they really blew it with Fregosi, who wasn't that good. The club badly, desperately needed a hitter.
James Preller
Lets not say the obvious which is that Terry Collins, aka "The Imbecile" gave away last night's game by bringing in his worse 3 relievers back to back to back.
Please tell why this imbecile of a man couldn't bring in Reed, Gilmartin or Goedell when the Mets were only 2 runs apart? Why did he bring them in once the were losing by 10 runs?
Simply put, if Collins had more sense he would have brought in his best relievers available instead of his worse, the Mets would have won the game 7 to 6.
But no, let blame the lost on the inability of Parnel, Blevins and Torres not the stupidity of Collins. Parnel and O'Flagerty should have been dfa'd a long time ago. Torres stays only based on what he has done in the past and only as a last resort.
The Mets send down Verret in order to keep those 2 clowns?
Oh and good luck to my main man Jeff McNeil in the AFL. I still see him as an MLB utility guy. And since I believe most of the mets top hitting prospects at 3B, SS and 2B are righties, could be good to have a sweet lefty swinging guy who could come off the bench and successfully field all three positions as needed.
Meant O'Flagerty, not Blevins
Verrett is homer prone. He has given up more homers perc9 innings than almost ANY successful minor league pitcher I know...something like 55 in 470 minor league innings, without looking him up. He gave up 2 in that Harvey 2-0 game that turned into a loss. How many homers will he surrender in the bigs? One every 5 innings? All to say...don't anoint him as a solution...he may not be.
Thor's control is much better than early Ryan...but like Nolan, a work in progress currently, on the road to being an elite pitcher. I am pleased with Thor's progress so far...just would not be surprised if Matz the rest of this year is better. Only way to know is when he pitches.
TC gave away the game without a doubt. I rarely get really angry but that inning was absurd. Sometimes players have bad days and its par for the course, but this game was totally mismanaged.
Parnell, OFlaherty and Torres are the worst relievers on the team and have all been almost complete ineffective of late. TC knows it and everyone else knows it. The game was very winnable with the Phillies bullpen coming in early, two runs was hardly a stretch. Of course as it turns out they scored 4 more runs pretty easily and that was with the scrubs.
I 100% agree that you use that contingent of RP for mop ups on lopsided games but you dont put them in the game so that it gets lopsided. We play enough bad teams down the stretch where there will be lopsided games for them to get into.
Even being down by 5 runs, THIS team could still come back and win, they've shown it before. Parnell has to go. He cannot pitch in a pennant race or the playoffs. I agree with your bullpen configuration going forward. Kudos again to Sandy for adding Reed, at least he recognizes the big problem and is attempting to fix it.
I'm disgusted by Collins and the Front Office---Parnell has not pitched in almost 3 weeks!!!---why was there NOT a rehab assignment???? This was a dis-service to Parnell....and moreso to the team!!! A True Formula to Fail!!!...and then he Brings in O'FER...the Human Gasoline Can!!!!
Collins should send back a Day's pay!!!
With Matz here, maybe start transitioning Niese to the pen since he won't likely be starting any playoff games.
Eraff
Good point regarding Parnell not having any rehab assignment before being placed into a high stress situation at the mlb level 1st day back.
I did not really think about that.
I would have both Niese (if he makes the roster) and Colon in the pen in the playoffs. Niese, I think has been OK in first innings, even over his bad stretch. And Colon, who, yes, sometimes doesn't have it, is totally unflappable. A good trait for a guy you may need to come in and give you multiple innings in a playoff game if something goes wrong early.
Collins sure did give last night's game away - Parnell should have been left for a game where we had a 3-4 run lead or where we were way back.
I will say his velocity wasn't bad - which was nice to see, he just couldn't throw a strike.
The best comment on Parnell was that he should have gone on a rehab assignment for a week to get everything together.
On a positive note - the Nats are playing awful and their manager makes TC look brilliant when it comes to bullpen usage.
If the Mets go a mere 15-15 down the stretch,
The Nationals have to go 22-9 to beat us.
With our staff, the 2nd half offense and our schedule, 15 wins will be very easy
Niese, Colon, Gilmartin, Clippard, Familia should be a group that puts away those later innings.
Edit: Add Reed
SO stealing your comment above. That is an excellent depiction of just how rapidly the Nationals chance is fading away.
Does it pay to leave a comment when you agree with all that is being said? Using Parnell as the first reliever in a 2 run game was a horrible decision. Gary Cohen had already said that Collins stated that Gilmartin, Reed and Goeddel needed some work last night. Those three could have easily gotten us to Familia in a 7-5 game for the save in the top of the 9th. Bringing Parnell in fresh off the DL was criminal, and following him with O'Flaherty was just as bad. Could it be that Collins figures we can just coast into the post season?
The question of the playoff bull pen (am I counting my chickens too early?) seems pretty obvious to me, and I hope it does to Terry, Sandy, et al. I'd go with a rotation of deGrom, Harvey, Thor and Matz (not necessarily in that order, since it may be wise to ensure that Thor gets his starts in Citifield) with both Neise and Colon in the pen with Familia, Clippard, Reed, Gilmartin, Goeddel. Although I like Robles a lot, he is still untested in the high stress environment of a playoff, so I'd prefer Colon and Niese. That leaves us without a situational lefty, but Gilmartin, Clippard, Reed, and the others, can all get lefties out, so I wouldn't feel at a disadvantage without one.
Yesterday I got really irritated with the Steve Gelbs half inning interview. I had to switch over to the Phillies broadcast for the rest of the game and put the sound down. Aren't the Mets enough to keep our interest during a pennant run.
Is it just me or is Steve Gelbs annoying. I have nothing against him. He is doing his job but should SNY stick to the Mets during the game and play Gelb's interviews at some other time during the game.
Richard Jones
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