Indicators vary, and Jerry Manuel is calling it roughly three weeks to define the good start he said the Mets need out of the gate. Losing two of three to the Marlins is too small of a window.
“Let’s see where we are over the first 20 games,” Manuel said. “That will give us a better indicator if we are off and running or whatever.”
The Mets are counting on Mike Pelfrey to pick up the Mets tonight against the Washington Nationals. That is, of course, if Pelfrey can pick up himself after working with a sports psychologist.
Pelfrey spoke recently about the mental make-up required to pitch in the major leagues, saying most everybody are equal in terms of physical talent, but the difference is the head game.
“At this level, I think every pitcher is pretty gifted,’’ Pelfrey said. “What separates guys is the mental part of the game.’’
Pelfrey’s problem has been losing focus and not mastering his secondary pitches. Pelfrey has tendency to not finish off hitters and consequently doesn’t minimize the damage and lets innings get away from him.
Sorts psychologist. Oh brother. why cant a veteran talk to the guy? This proves Warthen is garbage, if he cant get into the head of one of his pitchers what good is he?
Jerry: lets see after 20 games? was that the number management gave you before they close the door on you?
Listen M&M if you are going to pull this crap on us, then just leave the pitchers in to throw the kinks out of their arms. and save the bullpen from burnout.
you know .. if you throw 10 games because you leave a pitcher in 8 innings to save the pen. I’ll have no problems. But 4 pitchers in one inning..
check please .. the food here is garbage!
a play like that is reserved for a serious save not a 3-1 maybe we will win …
SteveC (1): I don’t think Warthen has a great connection with the staff. It’s a young staff and I have no problems with them getting a little rope to work out of trouble.-JD
Its a shame that the rope has to really come from an outsider. a teammate a coach. putting an arm around going listen….
sometimes is all it takes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Warthen
now we know why our young pitchers have the win loss ratio they have.
Warthen
Career statistics
Record 12-21
Earned run average 4.31
Strikeouts 224
well i will miss some of the game my son is part of the crew in a play.
hey JD watch out for Milano she bites
see post #1
Steve C (5): I can only wish.-JD
A lot of empty seats tonight.-JD
Good first inning. Seven pitches. He got ahead and stayed away from the middle of the plate.-JD
looks like we can get some hist off him.
why is mike up?
A couple of guys get on and Pelfrey can’t close out the inning. We’ve seen that before.-JD
dave (11): He worked quickly in the first. Was more deliberate in the second. Looked like he was aiming his pitches.-JD
john
thanks
why do pitchers not own other pitchers?
i mean these guys cant hit and it seems the opposing pitcher struggles way to much to throw strikes.
dave (15): Hell of a question. I have no idea. How does a guy like Tommy Hutton own Tom Seaver? One of the game’s mysteries.-JD
Third inning: The barehanded grab by Pelfrey was instinct, but it’s a good way to break a finger.-JD
hey john.
do you think dunn would be better for us than jacobs?
Usually Gary, Keith, and Ron are pretty honest, but they didn’t mention the terrible mets defense as a primary suspect in lack of Pelfrey double plays last year.
nah.
it was keeping his sinker up and getting it crushed.
dave (18): No doubt about it. I always wanted them to get him. Did you see those HR numbers?-JD
yeah.
pretty impressive
one day he will smack the inside pitch and they will stop going there
dave (23): I was just thinking that.-JD
Bay knew it. He was halfway in the dugout before the ump rang him up.-JD
That reminded me of Beltran vs. Wainwright
kevin (26): Ouch.-JD
Fourth inning: Pelfrey is lucky to have the pitcher up now.-JD
Its amazing how he pops in and out so freely. The first inning he looked absolutely dominant. Now it looks like he is afraid to challenge the hitters.
kevin (29): Lucky that inning. Good play saves a run.-JD
Castillo doesn’t make that play.
Tiffany (31): Doesn’t get near that ball.-JD
You can’t stop Rod Barajas — you can only hope to contain him.
Does anyone have a Christmas Tree air freshener hanging in their car?
Sixth inning: Interesting to see how Pelfrey responds to the botched play by Wright. Should be an error.-JD
Real nice job by Pelfrey. Must have been listening to his psychologist.-JD
Can I already anoint Barajas the best catcher the Mets have had since the one good year of Loduca?
If this holds, Pelfrey gets the win. He deserves it. I would have liked to have seen him get the chance to work another inning.-JD
kevin (37): Yes, you may.-JD
This bears repeating: You can’t stop Rod Barajas — you can only hope to contain him.
It certainly is nice to have some potential power towards the bottom of the lineup. Something the Mets typically lack.
Wow, I can’t believe that didn’t go, that was destroyed.
They call that a hit with a runner in scoring position, Tatis comes through. That was a huge run.-JD
As many problems as I have with Omar Minaya, that Church for Frenchy swap is looking pretty damn brilliant.
kevin (44): Church? I had almost forgotten about him.-JD
I wish I could, he was like Kevin Spacey in the usual suspects, tricking you in to thinking he was the sympathetic figure but leading you on the whole time. All us Mets fans saw him hit for a month and then get hurt, that month was the aberration though.
kevin (46): He also had a very prickly personality. He was cocky with little reason to be.-JD
He seemed that way JD, always in the postgame he seemed smug, like he had a me vs the world type attitude and no one gave him his due.
jd(45)
yeah. you remember him.
church(n) favorite whipping boy of one J. Manual.
dave (49): Yeah, I do.-JD
Interesting. Give Jenrry Mejia a chance for something positive. However, if they are apprehensive about using him he shouldn’t be here.-JD
Good win, with Ollie going tomorrow, this was an important one… well as important as games get in April
FINAL: Mets 8, Nationals 2
RECORD: 2-2
Kevin (52): Good point about Perez. Going 1-3 was definitely possible.-JD
As I’ve suspected from the beginning, the Mets offense looks a lot better this year and will score them some runs when they’re not taking the night off. But how long is that going to hold up if the pitching is not consistent? If they can get good pitching most of the time, it’s a winning combination. If the pitchers give up a lot of runs, the pressure on the offense to play catch-up will wear it down pretty quickly. Time will tell.
Jeff M (55): They’ve gotten solid starts in three of the first four games.-JD
THUMBNAIL ANALYSIS: Much, much better for Mike Pelfrey, who gave the Mets six innings for his 94 pitches. I would have liked another inning, but I’ll take six and two runs. He was hot and cold, but finished on a high note. … The Mets hit four homers, two each by Rod Barajas and one from Jeff Francoeur. Can’t beat four homers.-JD
John (56) Call me crazy, but I’ll need more proof than that of this pitching staff’s effectiveness and stability over the long haul.
i think it is positive that pelfrey did not explode. i like what niese did against a better team.
if those two are consistent then the team has a chance not to win 70. maine still has issues and i expect ollie to be hot and cold.
that wont get us to the playoffs, but it will make us competitive which is all the owners want.