You ever get the feeling that people are surfing the personal internet that's inside your brain?Like when earlier today I had been perusing the bullpen statistics ... specifically the splits of the main bullpen culprits, er ... I mean pitchers, and found the following:
Schoeneweis:
.151/.224 vs. Left (Avg/OBP against)
.330/.426 vs. Right
Feliciano:
.207/.269 vs. Left
.344/.427 vs. Right
Smith:
.203/.288 vs. Right
.311/.426 vs. Left
Heilman:
.215/.320 vs. Right
.310/.401 vs. Left
Stokes:
.175/.175 vs. Right
.371/.421 vs. Left
And I'm thinking: "Ooh, I can put these splits in my back pocket and spring 'em in a future post dissecting the bullpen. It'll be great, they'll never expect me to go all statistical on 'em, they'll just expect another Robby Alomar joke. Oh, It'll be great."
So what do you think happens? Of course, SNY breaks out the lefty/righty split graphic during Tuesday's game ensuring that I'll just look like a copycat fool when my master bullpen dissection comes out. The one time I get all stat geek and it's ruined ... ruined I say!
But it doesn't take a genius, a stat geek, or a Mets television network to point out what's so wrong with this bullpen and why it needs to be revamped next season: Everybody in the pen is a specialist. Schoeneweis, Heilman, Smith and Feliciano ... when used right ... should be guys who are facing one or two batters. The Mets don't really have anybody who could face anybody. Except ...
The one guy who's splits were on the SNY graphic didn't belong:
Sanchez:
.261/.331 vs. Right
.217/.314 vs. Left
That's a weird one because his numbers are slightly worse against righties, correct? And the OBP againsts are similar against both lefties and righties. It doesn't make much sense. But the splits get more normal when you go back to his salad year of '06:
.179/.266 vs. Right
.276/.362 vs. Left
So even Sanchez falls along that specialist line. But he's been an eighth inning guy before, so one would think it would be imperative for him to somehow regain a little of that '06 magic if this bullpen is going to last to and through October without dropping dead.
Until then, we'll take ninth innings like Tuesday night, where Stokes put a runner on (after two solid innings) before Feliciano got the lefty Prince Fielder to double himself up, and Smith came in to wipe out Corey Hart and give the Mets an opportunity to win the game in the tenth.
Ayala:
.291/.333 vs. Right
.259/.341 vs. Left
.241/.301 with nobody on
.321/.379 with runners on
If Luis Ayala could stop giving up rallies with two outs (started by guys who look like Bob Hamelin's distant relatives), he could be a guy who could not only close, but could slide into an eighth inning role if/when Country Time comes back.
***
Jon Niese's scouting reports says that he likes to compete, which basically makes him the anti-Steve Trachsel.Niese gave up five runs in three plus innings against the Brewers tonight in his major league debut ... which is two innings more than Trachsel lasted in Game 3 of the 2006 NLCS.
Basically, when you talk about a full list of Met pitchers from best to worst, all you have to do is just kinda show up and you'll surpass Trachsel.
***
And by the way, if you're interested in reading about Cody Ross popping off some more on Mike Pelfrey, then you should check this out. Try not to giggle uncontrollably.
10 comments:
Go Big Pelf, I love this kids confidence. I dare him to hit Ross again, Pelf would pulverize that jerk.
I think Daniel Murphy should receive some consideration for NL MVP.
The stats don't lie . . . and Manuel is well aware of it. Get ready for multiple pitching changes and 3 hour plus games . . .
I loved last night's win, because I thought they were going to lose. You know, we're up 5 - 1, they gamble on young Jon Niese who blows the lead and the offense, following the usual script, falls asleep for several innings. All the ingredients were there . . . until Danny Hustle lined a single to center and, with heads up base running, took third on Reyes' bunt. Big time play, especially because they weren't hitting. This kid's got something.
Too funny. I saw these splits on SNY last night and was thinking about putting them in a comment here because I thought they were so interesting. It helps explain why we use just about every pitcher every night.
Be interesting to compare these to the starters.
Oh, piss on Cody Ross. Tough guy when his teammates come out. At 5' 9" and 203 lbs, I can see why when Pelf is 6' 7" and 230 lbs. Pelf would squish him.
And Mike Jacobs needs to STFU also. Call when you get an OBP above 300.
It is time to ditch the concept of having "extra" position players and move to the next step in baseball's evolution...the 17 pitcher roster. Just think, we can have specialists for each inning and most situations. Let the pitchers take some batting and fielding practice if we need them to fill in elsewhere every now and again.
Ross is an idiot. He said Pelfrey hit him on purpose AND that he can't control the slider. It can't be both, genius. I really hope Pelf did drill him on purpose.
He also said he's tired of getting hit. Well, there are a few things he can do about that:
- Stop hanging over the plate.
- Learn to recognize a freaking pitch.
- Get out of the freaking way.
- Play golf, although I'm sure someone would find a reason to hit him there, too.
Far be it from me to defend Steve Trachsel, but I'm tired of the complaint that Trax didn't last longer in that NLCS game. I for one am glad he didn't pretend he has stuff he didn't. Be honest with yourself and ask if you really want Trax "gutting it out" at less that 100% in a game that matters? Would you *really* be happier if he told Willie, "I'm fine, I can pitch another couple innings?" I can understand cracking on Trax for sucking (he did), but I can't stand that cracks about him not being "tougher" and lasting longer. That's just silly.
Anonymous,
I see what you're saying ... hey I defended Trachsel for months and months before that game. But forgive me for pulling a Billy Wagner here, because here's the key for me: After that game, Trachsel didn't pitch in a Met uniform ever again. Granted, his Met career only lasted four more games, but for a team that was starved for pitching and had a tired staff they could have gone to him in Game 7 instead of Perez. It's not like he wasn't rested. Instead, he never even got up in the bullpen after that.
Think about it: A 15-game winner not even considered to pitch in Game 7 over an inconsistant Ollie. Granted, Trachsel's 15 wins aren't worth 15 wins by ... say ... Brandon Webb. But he wasn't even a part of the conversation ... even with a manager famous for sticking with "my guys". That tells me something.
In contrast, everyone gets on Beltran for his numbers and that he's not worth his money and maybe we have a right to expect more numbers. But you can't take away from him that he tries to gut it out and play through all of his various injuries. Carlos Beltran for all his awful numbers in the clutch is one tough son-of-a-bitch. Trachsel didn't even put up an argument when he was pulled ... he just walked off (and it wasn't the second visit to the mound if I remember correctly. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong ... but I truly believe that it wasn't visit number two that he came out.) That tells me that the organization wasn't happy with that "effort".
"I'm Billy Wagner and I approve this message."
Think about that.
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