Category: Pitching

Mets Roster Move: Armas, Jr. Called Up- Phillips Designated

As expected, the Mets added Tony Armas, Jr. to the active roster for tonight’s game. Armas will make the start that’s needed because of the double header against the Yankees last Friday. He’s having a nice season for Triple-A New Orleans where he worked with current Mets pitching coach Dan Warthen and first base coack Ken Oberkfell.

The surprise was that the Mets designated Andy Phillips for assignment. I think that most of us expected Carlos Muniz to be designated and sent back to New Orleans.

Now the Mets are carrying 13 pitchers. This roster configuration is almost as confounding as carrying three catchers for an extended period of time. Muniz was hit hard by the Cardinals last night so I expected Armas to make the start tonight and stick around to see if he had any success as the long man.

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Vargas Will Report To New Orleans

NEW YORK - MAY 14: Claudio Vargas #39 of the New York Mets pitches to Elijah Dukes #34 of the Washington Nationals in the second inning on May 14, 2008 at Shea Stadium in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City.

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Claudio Vargas has cleared waivers and will report back to Triple-A New Orleans. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Vargas back at some point. I thought that he might even get taken off waivers. He pitched as well as I thought that he would this season. He had a 4.62 ERA with a 1.189 WHIP, not bad for a spot starter and long man in the bullpen.

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Mets Alter Starting Rotation

The Mets announced yesterday that Oliver Perez will go seven days between starts this week to put a right hander between he and Johan Santana. Pitching coach Dan Warthen wants to split up the lefties. We may see Perez get a couple of innings of relief in early in the Philadelphia series before his next start on Sunday.

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Florida Marlins v New York Mets
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Mets Injury News: June 28- Alou and Church

NEW YORK - MAY 11: Ryan Church #19 of the New York Mets is congratulated by teammate Moises Alou #18 after hitting a home run in the 5th inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Shea Stadium on May 11, 2008 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City.

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Prior to the game today Jerry Manuel told reporters that Ryan Church should be ready to be activated from the disabled list prior to the game against the Yankees tomorrow. He also said that Moises Alou is targeting a return to the active roster next weekend in Philadelphia.

Manuel also talked about how the double header yesterday forces the Mets to seek outside help for a starting pitcher on Tuesday. Most likely Tony Armas, Jr. will be called up from Triple-A New Orleans. But Manuel left the door open for Omar Minaya to acquire a starter from outside of the Mets organization. Armas has pitched very well for the New Orleans Zephyrs this season going 5-6 with a 2.50 ERA in 16 starts.

There aren’t that many starters on the street that I can think of. There’s David Wells and Jeff Weaver out there, but I think Armas would be a better option. Wells hasn’t pitched all season and Weaver was released byt the Brewers after getting bombed in Triple-A Nashville. He made nine starts and went 2-4 with a 6.22 ERA.

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Mets News Today: June 23

There’s plenty in the news today as the Mets come home to face the dreadful Seattle Mariners.

  • Jerry Manuel says that he has to prepare to go the rest of the season without Moises Alou.
  • Luis Castillo won’t play again tonight after aggravating the quadriceps injury he suffered earlier this season.
  • Brian Schneider will probably get a couple more days off after bruising a finger on his glove hand in Colorado.
  • Ryan Church plans to take batting practice with the Mets tonight and play a couple of games this week in Brooklyn. The plan is for him to return to the big league team for the Yankees series this weekend.
  • Goose Gossage says that the Mets didn’t treat Willie Randolph fairly.
  • The Mets seem to have a new trend with pitchers staying on the mound to hand the ball to the incoming pitcher. Manuel said he thought it would be a one-time thing with John Maine until Pedro Martinez did it on Saturday. Now they’re all doing it.
  • Jerry Manuel joked about Mets fans booing Aaron Heilman at Shea Stadium to fertilizer.
  • John Harper of the Daily News writes that the Mets are in good hands with Manuel. He even addressed the perception of a racial divide with the team.
  • Adam Rubin of the Daily News writes that Manuel’s comment about fertilizer was made in reference to Aaron Heilman using the fans booing him at Shea as a source of growth, not calling Mets fans “manure” as the NY Post reported.

Rick Peterson Speaks To XM Radio About Mets Firing

PORT SAINT LUCIE, FL - FEBRUARY 17: (L-R) Manager Willie Randolph and Pitching Coach Rick Peterson #51 of the New York Mets watch players work out during Spring Training at Tradition Field on February 17, 2008 in Port Saint Lucie, Florida.

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Former Mets pitching coach Rick Peterson spoke to XM radio yesterday about being fired by the Mets.  He said that Omar Minaya delivered the news of his firing with sympathy.  He said the he hopes that the Mets can get things turned around.  About the Mets he said:

I don’t have any animosity or vindictive or angry thoughts. I’m sad, you’re always sad when you leave a home that you felt very comfortable at.

Too much Zen and too little pitching from Peterson this year.  John Maine, Oliver Perez, and Aaron Heilman regressed this season and the Mets can’t have their young pitchers moving in the wrong direction.  If you’re a regular reader, you know that my opinion is that Peterson deserved to be fired for recommending the Scott Kazmir trade.  So if anything else that he did went South, he was probably on thin ice with the Mets front office.

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