Spring finale: Duque looks great, Pelfrey not so much
In the final Grapefruit League game for the New York Mets, there were still holes to fill and ends to meet. A fifth starter was still up in the air, although it seemed beforehand that the Mets preferred the veteran over t
he youngster.
Orlando Hernandez, whose age is unknown, but many reports say is over 41, started for the Mets and looked solid. He threw five innings, allowing only one run on four hits, while striking out two. Last week was a bit of a disaster, but keep in mind that it was his first spring training game of the season.
I’d still like to see the Mets toy with Jorge Sosa in the fifth spot, but it appears they aren’t looking anywhere but forward with Orlando Hernandez, even with Sosa’s dominance as a starter with the Mets in the beginning of last season and his success this spring. It seems that even if Hernandez didn’t do well today, he would still be the fift
h starter over the young and not-so-ready Mike Pelfrey.
At the plate, Jose Reyes ran like usual. He had two hits, including a double and two stolen bases. What’s new?
Carlos Delgado, David Wright, and Marlon Anderson each had RBI for the Mets, who will play in the Civil Rights game against the Chicago White Sox tomorrow in Memphis, Tennessee at 5 pm. The game will be televised on ESPN.
NFL playoff system may improve
According to Jim Thomas from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the NFL’s playoff system could look much different next year if an NFL competition committee’s proposal is approved by league owners next week.
If the proposal is approved, the best two teams in each conference at the end of regular season play would still have a first-round bye. The rest of the teams in the playoffs would be seeded by win-loss record.
Last season, for example, the Jacksonville Jaguars and New York Giants would have gotten home games instead of road games as wild-card teams.
Under the current playoff format, there are four division winners. The best team in the conference (best record) receives not only a first-round bye, but the advantage of playing at home as long as they are in the playoffs. The team with the second-best record in the conference receives a first-round bye and at least one home playoff game. The next two division winners receive a home playoff game, but no bye. Finally, the best two teams in the conference that did not finish in first place in their division do not get a bye or a home game unless the two wild cards meet up in the final round, but do receive a playoff berth.
Why not Sosa?
The choice for the fifth starter seemed to be narrowed down to Mike Pelfrey or Orlando Hernandez, but because of their miserable outings a few days ago, it leads the Mets and their fans to look elsewhere. I’ve been thinking about several options, but through the past week, I’ve been brainstorming different ideas and have come to a conclusion that Jorge Sosa should be the fifth starter.
Yes, he struggled later in the season last year, but I’d like to hear somebody come up with ten legitamite reasons why he shouldn’t be in at least the top three in consideration for the fifth starter in the Mets rotation.
The only thing that might be holding him back is that the Mets seem to believe that ever since he started pitching in relief later last season, he is now only a reliever.
But just look back through his shaky career. Sosa went 13-3 with the Braves in 2005, but then fell apart in 2006 and ended up with a record if 3-10 with Atlanta before getting traded to St. Louis.
Sosa then signed with the Mets and started the season in Triple-A. He was called up to the Mets during the season and was unbelievable, winning seven games faster than Jose Reyes can run.
Of course, his shaky past shows that anything could happen, so he ended up losing games just as fast as he won them, causing the Mets to shift him to the bullpen, where he continued to fall with the rest of the pitching staff in the month of September.
At least he has some experience and isn’t over 40 years old. Mike Pelfrey has not lived up to his expectations and doesn’t have the experience Sosa has. Orlando Hernandez has the experience, but at his age, you have to be more afraid to send him to the hill than you would be sending Sosa to the hill.
Because of his past, Sosa seems to be a risky option, but at this point its probably worth it. So far this Spring, he has a .75 ERA in 12 innings of relief work. That looks a lot better than Mike Pelfrey’s 8.31 or El Duque’s 15.00, doesn’t it?
Mets chop Braves while Johan throws to minors
The Braves made the journey from Disney today only to get beat by a walk-off against their division rivals, 5-4.
Mets catcher Raul Casanova, who could end up on the opening day roster, helped his chances by knocking a home run against Braves’ starter Tim Hudson in the third. Rafael Arroyo sent the Mets home by slapping a single the opposite way to score in the winning run.
With Johan’s opening day start quickly approaching, he threw to minor leaguers as Mets prospect Jonathon Niese filled in on the mound. Niese ended up throwing over four innings, allowing two runs.
Maybe like myself, you saw Joe Hietpas walking around Mets camp last year with shin guards and a catchers glove. This year, maybe you saw him walk on a mound. The Catcher-turned-pitcher had a nice 1.1 innings of relief today, giving up no runs.
With only three more days in Port St. Lucie and four more days of exhibition games altogether, I can guarantee you the Mets are already thinking about Miami. The Mets will face the Marlins in their season opener on Monday at 4:10 pm, televised on SNY
The El Duque thing
Wow, people think I am crazy for what I think about El Duque.
Here is the bottom line: The Mets avoid every question about El Duque’s velocity and don’t seem to care, so they obviously had no problem with him going out and throwing a light simulated game the other day or a light spring training game today.
I had said that he would probably turn it up for the actual Spring game, and I was right. He topped 85 mph today, and he topped 81 mph during the simulated game. There is a pattern for you already.
I have no faith in El Duque right now, but other writers need to stop acting like they were in the huddle with Duque and his coaches before the simulated game, because they all assume that they know he could only throw 81 in the simulated game.
Take a look at Tom Glavine, who lives off of 85 mph fastballs. Look at Pedro Martinez, whose fastballs range between 85-90. Now take a look at El Duque, I know, I know, he didn’t throw 85 the entire time, but he has made his money through the last few years without throwing hard fastballs.
I don’t have much faith in El Duque, but to all the writers out there: Stop making a big deal over the speed of his fastball. Since when did everyone think he throws faster than Billy Wagner?
Oh, and for any of you who thought Pelfrey was going to do better than Duque today, he gave up three more runs than El Duque.