Category: Pitching

Mike Pelfrey Another Injured New York Met

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Mike Pelfrey is reported to be experiencing some pain in his lower left leg. He had an MRI on the leg and is expected to miss at least a few days of work outs. Pelfrey is the latest Met to be experiencing some minor pain this spring.

The list of Mets that have minor injuries is somewhat alarming. But we have to remember that every team is overly cautious in the spring to avoid problems that spill over into the regular season.

The reason to be concerned about Pelfrey is sherely because Johan Santana has experienced some elbow problems. So if Santana can’t go on opening day in Cincinnati, it would have been Pelfrey that likely would have led the rotation. But let’s not get crazy in the first week of March until we have more conclusive information.

Mets Move Up Santana’s Rehab Schedule

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I hate to get caught up in this daily routine of updating Johan Santana’s progress recoving from some elbow pain. But it is encouraging that the Mets have moved up his rehab schedule.

Originally, Santana was going to pitch three bullpen sessions before throwing to hitters. He pitched one bullpen session on Thursday and felt well enough to pitch batting practice today before the game against the Washington Nationals.

Maybe Santana will be able to go on opening day in Cincinnati on April 6. From the comments that I’ve read from Santana, it seems like its very important to him to make that start. I have to say that Santana really shows a lot of pride in his game for a guy that’s guaranteed to make $137.5 million whether he’s on the field or not. The Mets made a great decision picking him as the guy to give a monster contract to. I remember hearing that an NFL scout said that the hardest part about selecting the first pick in the draft isn’t about talent. A lot of college football players have talent. The problem is choosing the guys that will still have a desire to win when their bank account gets into eight digits. Santana is demonstrating to us that he’s that type of guy.

Freddy Garcia Ripped Again In Second Mets Start

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I’ve been watching the Mets-Cardinals game on SNY today. Typically, I don’t spend much time watching spring training games unless I’m in Florida at the games. But Iwanted to see what Freddy Garcia looked like in his second start for the Mets.

Again, he was terrible. He gave up two home runs in two innings. One of the homers was an absolute bomb by Chris Duncan.

Garcia faced ten hitters in two innings and really looked like he was struggling. His fastball didn’t get above 90 mph and his breaking pitches didn’t look sharp.

At this point you’d have to wonder if Garcia will have a future with this team. It’s funny because I thought the fifth spot in the rotation would be Garcia’s to lose. With Tim Redding, Livan Hernandez, and Jon Niese vying for the same spot on the roster Garcia’s chances are getting slimmer by the day of making the major league roster.

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Mets Delay Santana’s Elbow Examination

Johan SantanaMets ace Johan Santana threw 35 pitches this morning at about 80-85% velocity. He reportedly felt fine afterward. But his trip to New York to have the injured elbow looked at was delayed due to the impending snow storm here in New York.

Pitching coach Dan Warthen and Santana seem to be at odds over the cause of the injury. Santana believes the aggresive throwing schedule that Warthen mandates caused the elbow pain. Warthen believes that Santana had an agenda to prepare himself for the World Baseball Classic caused the injury.

Either way, they just need to get Santana right at this point. After the throwing session today Santana told reporters (from NY Daily News):

“I felt fine. It’s the first time in the last four days that I threw, but I feel good. … As you throw more pitches, you feel better. That tells me we’re making progress and getting loose.”

As Omar Minaya told reporters, the important thing is that he felt good after throwing. Hopefully, he’s not trying to be a hero and telling the Mets that he’s fine when he’s not. Time will tell.

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Mets Sign Villone To Minors Deal

Ron Villone signed a minor league contract to compete for the second lefty spot out of the bullpen. I’m not sure how much value he adds to the Mets. He did appear in 74 games last season for the Cardinals pitching to 4.68 ERA and 1.640 WHIP.

Villone is a Jersey guy and just turned 39 years old last month. We’ll have to see where this goes but the last few times I saw him pitch he didn’t look like he had that much left in the tank.

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Garcia Terrible In Mets First Outing

Freddy Garcia looked horrible in his first spring training appearance for the Mets yesterday. He only went .2 innings giving up four runs, two of which were earned, and three walks. It took him 40 pitches to get two outs.

He claims to be a slow starter but he needs to do better than that if he expects to make this team. Livan Hernandez, Jon Niese, and Tim Redding are serious contenders for the fifth spot in the rotation. I think that the Mets would like to see Garcia win the spot so Redding can go long out of the bullpen. But yesterday’s appearance didn’t inspire any confidence in Garcia’s ability to recover from serious shoulder surgery.

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Mets Bring Curveball Back

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Pitching coach Dan Warthen started the Mets bringing the curveball back in the second half of last season. He got Mike Pelfrey throwing it again and this spring John Maine is doing the same.

From MLB.com:

“I’ve got to learn to do it again,” Maine said. “It’s been over two years since I’ve thrown it in a game. I’ve got to learn to do it sometime.”

Pitchers have been throwing curveballs for 140 years. I always hated that former pitching coach Rick Peterson discouraged it so much. He favored throwing the fastball, change, and slider low in the strike zone.

I think Maine was the one most effected by Peterson’s philosophy. He seems to naturally have success high in the strike zone. I realize that he can’t live there but there’s no reason not to go there on occasion.

I also never understand Peterson’s fascination with the slider. Remeber watching Jorge Julio and others throw them over and over? And getting knocked around constantly to boot. There’s nothing wrong with a good curveball. Darryl Kile ( RIP) and others have made a career out of it.

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