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April 30, 2004

Pitching In

The Mets wrapped up their three-game series in Los Angeles last night, taking two-of-three from the first-place Dodgers. Mets pitchers continue to be effective, as Jae Seo picked up his first win of the season, and Stanton and Weathers gave up one hit apiece in finishing the game off.

The Mets pitching staff is tied for last in the National League in strikeouts, but are second in the league (to Philadelphia) in fewest walks allowed. What does this mean? Well, the Mets staff, particularly the starting rotation, is not built for power. They largely rely on generally-good command and good team defense (did I actually just say that?). Despite not putting up gaudy strikeout numbers, they have been doing an excellent job of keeping hitters off the bases.

As mentioned before, the Mets are second in the league in fewest walks allowed. They are fifth in WHIP at 1.326 and first in the league in homeruns allowed, having surrendered only 15 through 22 games this season. Atlanta and San Diego are tied for second with 19 homeruns each. The Mets are fourth in OBP against, first in SLG against, and second in OPS against, mere percentage points behind league-leading Florida. Mets pitchers have given up only 23 doubles this year, nine fewer than second-place Chicago and Los Angeles.

Given the above figures, it's not surprising that the Mets are first in the National League in Rob Neyer's Beane Count. Here is the description of this "metric" from ESPN.com:

Concocted by ESPN.com's Rob Neyer and named for Oakland A's General Manager Billy Beane, the Beane Count is derived by summing a team's ranks in home runs hit, walks drawn, home runs allowed, and walks allowed.

Can we reasonably expect the Mets to keep pitching this well all season? Who knows. They're doing what GM Jim Duquette said they would, which is rely on pitching and defense, and hope the offense can scratch out enough runs to win some ballgames.

Unfortunately, it looks like they'll be scratching out those runs without Jose Reyes for a little while longer. Reyes pulled himself out of a rehab game when he felt some pain in his leg while running out a grounder. It's not disastrous, but he definitely won't be back this weekend and is questionable for a return next week when the Mets get back to Shea.

Eric | 10:36 AM EST | TrackBack: 1

March 05, 2004

Izzy or Isn't He

Nice article in The Star Ledger about Jason Isringhausen, former Mets phenom. Jason was asked what it was like to be a prized pitching prospect, much the way Scott Kazmir is now.

Kazmir has apparently been directly compared to Izzy, to which Izzy replied:

"Uh, oh."

According to Isringhausen, who along with Bil Pulsipher and Paul Wilson comprised the highly touted "Generation K", they were expected to throw 120-130 pitches every game. It's no wonder they're keeping Kaz on such a strict, albeit overprotective, pitch count. Hopefully they'll open him up a bit this season, as 50 pitches won't get him through a big league game.

Eric | 10:32 AM EST | TrackBack: 0

February 10, 2004

Peterson Gets To Work

Mets pitching coach Rick Peterson brought 11 pitchers with him to Birmingham, AL, this week for a complete biometric evaluation, The Kansas City Star reports (registration required).

Inside a big building with a mound, pitchers put on tight black outfits. Little balls covered with silver reflective material are then taped to their shoulders, arms, wrists, torso, hips, knees and feet.

Under the watch of overhead cameras shooting 240 frames per second, pitchers throw to a bullpen catcher. A computer captures the reflection from the balls and translates the images into what look like stick men on a video screen.

Separately, the pitchers are recorded both by a standard video camera and another that shoots the equivalent of 500 frames per second. The result is a super-slow motion image.

Peterson said that without the video, seeing a pitcher's motion is like trying to read the license plate of a car zooming by at 90 mph.

The results are then put through a 35-point evaluation, a program on which Roger Clements and Tim Hudson are said to have scored the highest.

Eric | 04:12 PM EST | TrackBack: 11

January 23, 2004

Taking The Fifth (Part 2 of 2)

As we all know, the Mets are currently searching high and low for an able-bodied individual to fill out the last spot in their starting rotation. In Part 1 on Wednesday, I looked at pitchers that the Mets are considering from within their own organization. Today I will look at:

Part 2: The Scrap Heap

The following pitchers do not belong to another team and are free for the pickin'. Too bad it's slim pickin'.

Rick Reed

Reed was one of the few union members to cross the picket lines during the 1994-95 strike. He was deemed a "replacement player" and has yet to be allowed back into the union. Nevertheless, Reed was the Mets best pitcher in 1997 and was their second best pitcher in 1998 to Al Leiter. His ERA+ in 1997 was 140, which was good for ninth in the league. His 2.89 ERA that year was sixth in the league.

Reed's success has always been tied to his ability to control the strike zone. Though he couldn't hit 90 MPH driving a Ferrari, his 1.66 career BB/9 is really outstanding, and ranks 1st among active pitchers and 35th all-time. Though he doesn't fan a ton of hitters, his 5.64 career K/9 is adequate.

Where Reed gets killed, however, is when it comes to giving up the longball. He's given up 1.24 per nine innings over the course of his career, which is one of the reasons he hasn't been better than he's been.

Reed will turn 40 this coming August, so he can't have much, if anything, left in the old tank. Of course, there are much worse choices out there. For instance...

Scott Erickson

There's not really much I can say that will be flattering to Erickson. He had good seasons in 1991 and 1992 when he posted ERA+ marks of 134 and 120, respectively. Since then, he's only cracked 115 once (119 in 1997). He was a workhorse from 1996-1999, averaging over 231 innings per season. Then his arm fell off in 2000 and, as you'd expect from a pitcher whose pitching arm fell off, hasn't really been the same since. He's pitched a total of 253.1 innings over the past four seasons, missing all of 2003 with, what else, an arm injury.

Please tell me the Mets (or anybody) aren't really considering Scott F'in Erickson? Why sign him when they could opt for the dried-up husk of this guy...

Garrett Stephenson

Ugh. Career ERA+ of 96 (4.55 ERA for the layperson). He just turned 31, which is about the only good thing I can say about him. He started 27 games last season for the Cardinals and struck out a whopping 91 batters in 174.1 innings. He also walked 60 during that span and gave up a jaw-dropping 30 homeruns (1.55 HR/9). Run away from this one really fast, boys. Don't make eye contact. Don't walk. Get out of dodge. There's gotta be something better out there. Someone like...

Orlando Hernandez

I picked this guy up off of waivers in my fantasy league last year, expecting him to foil National League hitters with his wide array of arm angles, all of which he uses to throw the exact same pitch. Hernandez went down in Spring Training and didn't throw a pitch during the whole season.

He's been a better-than-average pitcher for much of his five big-league seasons and sports a career K/9 of 7.04. He's a bit prone to the gopher ball, particularly when there are runners on base and he has to pitch from the stretch.

If he's had one great strength, it's been his performance in the postseason. In 97 postseason innings, Hernandez has 95 strikeouts, a 10-2 record, and an ERA of 2.51, including a 2.28 ERA in the World Series. Unfortunately, this particular "skill" (?!?!?) will be of little use to the 2004 Mets. According to Baseball Reference, he turned 38 last season. ESPN.com lists him at 34. Only Mrs. Hernandez knows for sure.

Well, there's certainly not much to choose from here. El Duque definitely has the most upside, though Reed has the fewest health concerns. Both pitchers have had success in New York, bud I'd probably throw my hat in El Duque's corner, mostly because I think he can still do a good job getting major league hitters out, and it would probably steam Boss George if he has any kind of success with the Mets.

Eric | 12:05 AM EST | TrackBack: 1

January 21, 2004

Taking The Fifth (Part 1 of 2)

With the Mets Winter Caravan underway in New York City, the team has unveiled its new motto: "Catch the Energy". The way the Mets defense performed last season, it could very well have been "Catch the Ball" (get it?). Anyhoo, with Spring Training a month away, the team is still searching for another starting pitcher to round out the rotation.

A lot of "names" have been mentioned in recent weeks. Those names, believe it or not, belong to current or one-time ballplayers, "pitchers", whose services the Mets are considering.

You may remember Spring Training 2003 when the Mets were in a similar situation. Jason Middlebrook, Mike Bacsik, and upstart David Cone battling for the fifth starting spot, with the elder statesman Cone "winning" the showdown. He even managed to hold onto the spot for four starts before calling it a career.

This year is no different, as the Mets are scouring the depths of baseball purgatory in search for a pitcher to round out their rotation.

Part 1: From The Bowels Within

The following pitchers can be currently found within the Mets organization.

Jeremy Griffiths

In a brief stint with the Mets last season, Griffiths pitched 41 innings and posted an ERA+ of 60 (7.02 ERA) which is not good, to say the least. He only managed a bit better in Winter Ball, going 1-2 with a 6.94 ERA. In 532 minor league innings he has an ERA of 3.61. His K/9 is 7.64; not mind-numbing, but well above average. His BB/9 (2.83) is pretty good and his HR/9 (0.65) is excellent.

He's a big guy, 6'6", and he'll be 26 in March. He's by no means an overpowering pitcher, but he has some upside and could turn into an above-average major league pitcher.

Aaron Heilman

Like Griffiths, Heilman has been a very successful pitcher in the minor leagues. Also like Griffiths, Heilman sucked it up big time with the Mets last year. While looking the proverbial gift horse in the mouth, Heilman responded to being given the fifth starter's position by posting an ERA+ of 63 (ERA 6.75).

A first round pick by the Mets in 2001, Heilman has a career minor league ERA of 3.35. His peripheral numbers are also very strong: K/9 of 7.86; BB/9 of 2.89; HR/9 of 0.49. His strikeout rate was decent with the Mets (7.03), but his walks and homeruns increased dramatically. Heilman was considered an untouchable prospect before last season, and now he's crap. He still has loads of "potential", and hopefully Rick Peterson can help him. It's been said that a lof of Heilman's problems last season came from poor mechanics. If there's one thing Peterson knows, it's mechanics (or bio-mechanics).

Tyler Yates

Yates came to the Mets in 2001 as part of the Dave Justice trade. Looking at his minor league stats, he looks like he has potential.

TYLER YATES

                IP    ERA    K/9    BB/9   HR/9
Rookie Ball    23.0   3.91   7.83   5.48   0.00
Class A       141.0   4.33   8.68   3.70   0.89
Class AA       89.0   4.85   8.60   4.25   0.61
Class AAA      39.0   1.14   8.54   3.23   0.23

He's struggled with his control a bit, but he has an overpowering fastball and he does a great job keeping the ball in the park. He could be a closer in waiting, but the Mets may give him a shot at starting. I can't say I know why.

Grant Roberts

Roberts was an 11th round pick by the Mets in 1995. 1995 was a long time ago. Roberts turned 26 this past season, and should be hitting his prime years. He has a career major league ERA+ of 112 (3.62 ERA). He has struck out 76 batters in 97 big league innings, while surrendering only 5 homeruns and 31 walks.

He came up as a starter in 2000 and promptly got shelled. He gave up 9 earned runs in 7 innings and that was it for him. He returned in 2001, this time as a member of the bullpen. He has pitched well in that capacity for the Mets, but has lost a lot of time these past few seasons due to injury. The Mets are giving him another shot at starting, and Roberts is reportedly very excited about this opportunity. After all, as a started, he'd be able to smoke pot four out of every five days and not have to worry about pitching in a game. Woo-hoo!

Check back tomorrow for Part 2, where I'll look at players outside of the Mets organization who could be vying for a spot in the rotation.

Eric | 03:38 PM EST | TrackBack: 2