Tuesday, August 12, 2008By Mike Steffanos
Game 118: Pirates 7 - Mets 5
I was watching this game off and on while trying to get some work done. There were a couple of occasions that the Mets had opportunities to push more runs across and didn't. Those of us who have watched this bullpen night after night experience a sinking feeling whenever that happens.
Still, you can't blame the offense on a day when they contributed. Pedro had one of his best outings of the season. All for naught.
Early in the season when the Mets weren't scoring it was the offense that put undue pressure on the pitchers to be perfect. Now it's the ominous looming presence of the bullpen that hangs over the rest of the club. Moreover, there doesn't seem to be any obvious quick fixes.
Eddie Kunz is next in line, but I worry about him. We've seen some young relief pitchers come in and do well early, but we've also seen some take a beating that was difficult to recover from.
The scouting report on Kunz was the his secondary stuff needed work and that he would have trouble getting lefties out. We've seen some evidence of that in an admittedly small sampling. The Mets will have to tread lightly with this kid. Still, I can't blame them for exploring other options.
I have to run out of here now to catch up on some business-related matters. We'll revisit this topic again (and again and again and again, I fear) in the near future.
View Pedro Martinez' Full Season Stats
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Comments (2)
Is it a case of an overworked pen, or is it they have run into a rough spot, or have they just plain lost it. Two scoreless innings vs. the Nats, that's a start. Lets Go Mets!
Posted by L.J.Phipps | August 13, 2008 4:05 PM
Those are good questions. For what it's worth, I think the 'pen has been overworked, but they've brought some of that on themselves. They forced both Randolph and Manuel to play the matchups and use more pitchers per game because they don't have any guys that can consistently get through an inning on their own.
Posted by Mike Steffanos | August 13, 2008 5:27 PM