Many of us are still feeling good after watching Jonathon Niese make his season debut and deliver a top notch performance, beating the Pirates and giving us something to get excited about.
I don’t know what prompted the Mets to make the last minute switch and replace Ken Takahashi with Niese for that start, but I’m certainly glad they did. I have nothing against Takahashi and I didn’t mean to knock him when he was originally announced as the replacement starter for Oliver Perez, but lets face it, the Mets were better off giving us a glimpse of the future.
One of the most remarkable accomplishments for Niese in that game may have gotten lost in the excitement of the victory, and that was the number of batters he walked in the game. None… zero… nada…
It was so refreshing to watch him command the strike zone with such relative ease. After the game Niese told reporters that he heard CitiField was a pitchers dream, so his game plan was to pound the strike zone. Why this game plan hasn’t been adopted by all of our starters, is still a mystery to me, but I detract.
We’ve heard about Jon Niese for the better part of 2 1/2 seasons now. He has been among the Mets top three prospects for most of that time. He was regarded as an untouchable when the Mets were negotiating for Johan Santana, and again this off season. So would it be a total shock if he managed to pitch effectively for his next half dozen or so starts?
The purpose of this post is to pose a few simple hypothetical questions. Hypothetical, but not altogether far-fetched.
What if Jon Niese continues to pitch well and continually gives the Mets a chance to win?
What if John Maine, Mike Pelfrey and Livan Hernandez continue to pitch like they have in their last few starts?
Given those two very likely scenarios, is there any good rationale for upsetting the apple cart and bringing Oliver Perez back to the rotation?
It’s a question that the Mets may not have to answer for at least another two weeks or maybe three, but answer it they must.
I wanted to know what some of your thoughts were and how the Mets should move if and when they become faced with the situation I described above.
Here are some facts to consider to help you make an educated decision.
The Mets missed the post season by just one game for two years straight. Oliver Perez has already given the Mets four tough losses. Three of them came after a win. Since his last loss, the Mets have won six straight.
Oliver Perez goes to Brooklyn and then Buffalo and looks solid in two rehab starts against Single-A and Triple-A batters. He gets activated from the DL, then what?
*Mets Merized Online Needs Your Help*
I remember the summer of 1998 when Bobby V. went with a 6 man rotation for a while, partially because of doubleheaders. If they want to bring Ollie back, that may be the best way to factor him in. Even if it’s a stretch without a DH, but also without lots of off days, put him in without bumping anyone completely out of the rotation, just giving everyone an extra off day, and see what he does. If he pitches well, nobody will say they expect him to keep it up and try it again, and if he pitches poorly, get him out. An injury anywhere would change that of course. Then again, you’d have to consider a roster spot for him as well, and that I’m not sure of.
I agree six man rotation would be a good idea.But i would keep Santana on his regular day.This would help keep Pelfrey’s innings down.While also giving Niese alot of experience.But what do we do with Redding???
A friend of mine said to me in the off-season (and maybe also last year) that Johan should pitch every 5th day, regardless of who’s turn it actually is, and adjust the rest accordingly. i do like the other benefits of a 6-man rotation. Redding will be the long man, mainly because nobody expected Livan to hold his spot. Livan will run out of gas, and maybe he won’t. They could do something crazy with the extra starters like having Ollie try to pitch 5, Redding waiting to take over in the 6th, and be on call earlier. Tag-team and save the bullpen on the days when Ollie can’t go 3. They need to sacrifice a few in the bullpen or wait for September for that to happen though.
Hernandez… I was one of the few Hernandez supporters. However I expect he will run out of gas in 4-5 weeks. His spot will be open for Ollie or Redding. If not, he continues to do well, the Mets need another lefty in the bullpen.
Omar should undo the mistake he made and trade Perez.
The only issue is, who would take Perez at this point?
The title should be : “What if Niese Keeps Pitching Well?”
C’mon, Joe, proper English. You don’t want to sound like a Phillies fan.
Whie Oliver Perez can be a dominant pitcher at times, he continues to be a mental midget most of the time. He has not grown enough as a pitcher who commands a 36 million dollar salary. I would definitely give Jonathon Niese the opportunity to become part of the rotation and when Oliver is physically sound (was he ever really hurt) try to trade him to an American League team. His up side is still good but I for one have no faith. I am tired of hearing our broadcasters lament him putting up a zero on the scoreboard in the inning following our team scoring some runs. The Lord giveth..but Oliver taketh away too often!
hey guys….
well I was one of those who was for the re-signing of Perez, it’s said to see that he still can’t get it. When he’s on he can be a team’s dominant #2, but again I guess that’s a topic for another day. If everything remains as it’s going now with the Mets and if Perez pitches lights out in the minors. Then 2 things I think can be done, 1. the 6 man rotation ok no problem, but continue to pitch Santana every 5th day. This will take Jerry on figuring out the weekly setup but what ever, leave Santana as is. Or my favorite choice would be to show Perez that this is serious and if he comes back even if he pitches lights out in the minors. He will still have to pitch his way, so you put him in the ballpin as a long reliever. Enough already to many chances, too much money, and too headaches he has given.
redding will be the long guy…. (get rid of green?)
I agree. Green is the weak link in this pen and should be the one to go to make room for Redding. Stokes is much more valuable than Green in my view.
At the time it did seem like the team had to get another pitcher, so they over spent a couple of Mil for Perez.
But it is to bad that they did it, since they now look like they have five pitchers that have the potential to be good enough to start for the team.
Redding
Jonathon Niese
Ken Takahashi
Parnell
Nelson Figuero
If Perez comes back and is bad then the team has to decide if he stays in relief, or do they eat most of his contract and trade him for whatever then can get back?
But if he is good then let him start the games, and then decide what to do with his back ups according to the situation at that time.
But if Perez keeps doing good then the team must find away to trade him off, and get something good back in return, because he can not be trusted to stay that way. And after awhile it is past due to stop worrying about him. After all good bad, good bad all of the time has to stop eventually.
And then we can see who will be the up and coming starters after he is gone. Especially since we was having some good ones already doing it before Perez came back.
Now stop and think about it, if the team does come up with outstanding minor players back ups in so many different positions that they themselve are good enough to replace the good players who are starting, what should the team do about it?
Can you imagine what it will mean if the team comes up with that nonproblem.
Look at the deals that they could make that could give them a load of future top prospects in return. And it would keep the salary down.
And just think about this, that could happen over and over again.
Let’s not get too excited over Niese based on one game with the Pirates. I think this outing justifies keeping him while Ollie is out. Some more starts will give a better idea of how Niese does with consistency. Let’s see how he does against some better offensive teams and how it goes after the word gets around the league on his pitching style. I’d like to see him pitch to the Pirates a second time to see if they have his number on the rematch. One game is encouraging, but not enough to bet the hoouse on. Let’s see 3 or 4 more starts before we make any real conclusion. The great thing is based on this outing and with Redding being available soon, the Mets will have real alternatives and should be able to make it through Ollie’s absence with any serious difficulty. The good news is we are no longer dependent on Ollie having Niese, Redding, and even Figueroa available, and may be able to say goodbye via a trade once he is in some kind of form. I’d let him go for a couple prospects if some team is willing to pick up the awful contract. The question is whether any team will be willing to do that. In the meantime, let’s get some more starts for Niese and see how it goes. Very promising so far.
Niese can take Livan’s spot if Livan falters later on, but I’d prefer Ollie takes as much time as it takes to sort out his problems.
Ollie will have good games, great games, and terrible games throughout his career. Whether Ollie is terrific or terrible appears more complicated than how the moon, stars, and planets of the universe align at game time. Many theories have been advanced, but none is beyond dispute, and Omar doesn’t know for sure either.
What does the future hold for Ollie? Well, whether Omar’s $36 Million was a savvy investment or whether the Mets get back a Fool’s Gold return is the big question and no one knows now.
Very good topic. Here’s a few points:
- Ollie’s velocity is way down 4-5 mph. Something’s wrong and they’re not telling us. I think its his legs – he may be out of shape or a sore knee. I don’t think Ollie is as clueless as people think. It appears to me he knows what he’s doing, but cannot execute.
- Parnell stays in the pen. Let him develop as a setup man to K-Rod if Putz exercises his option next year.
- Manuel gave a good explanation for Niese’s uneven AAA performances in that he was working on his 3rd and 4th pitches in instances where he might otherwise come in with heat. Brass told him not to worry. As a former pitcher, I’m cool with that.
- I like Redding and Figueroa much better than Green. Figgy has an attitude, and I really like that for this team.
- I like Livan, but his days are numbered.
If Neise keeps pitching well and Perez snaps back into shape then it’s a great problem to have. But as well as Livan has done in the 5th starter spot, he will be the odd man out. As for those who like the idea of a 6 man rotation, wtf? Johan Santana is the best pitcher in baseball, you don’t take starts away from him, end of discussion on a 6 man rotation.
6 MAN OPTION IS A BUST UNDER CURRENT REGIME, HEVEN’T WE BEATEN THAT CONCEPT TO DEATH BY NOW? SEEMS TO COME UP EVERY YR OR SO. NEISE IS AS MUCH AN UNKNOWN AS OLLIE ONLY MORE SO. AT LEAST WE KNOW OLLIE HAS THE STUFF TO DOMINATE THE STRONG LINEUPS OUT THERE. PHL, ATL, NYY ALL HATE TO FACE A GOOD OLLIE. IS THERE A REG GOOD NEISE? IF JONATHAN’S FOR REAL WITH (AS BEEN SAID EARLER) THESE FINE OPTIONS:
Redding
Jonathon Niese
Ken Takahashi
Parnell
Nelson Figuero
LIVAN HERNANDEZ
OLIVER PEREZ
THERE’S CERTAINLY ENOUGH FLEXIBILITY ON THE CURRENT ROSTER WITH TAKA,NIESE,REED,SANTOS,PARNELL ALL WITH OPTIONS TO KEEP THE ROSTER FLUID ENOUGH TO SHOWCASE A GOOD OLLIE Vs INTERLEAGUE BOSOX,NYY POTENTIALLY INCREASING HIS VALUE ESP CONSIDERING HOW SCARCE ANY PITCHING IS ON THE 7/31 MKT. CAN’T U SEE AN ALMOST CONTENDER ESP IN AL EAST WANTING TO BUY THAT LOTTERY TICKET WE KNOW AS OP? OMAR’S A TRADER AT HIS BEST. WITH OPTIONS ABOVE COULDN’T TORONTO,TAMPA OR BALTIMORE BE INTRIGUED SINCE WE ALSO HAVE A YOUNG DEADLY DH CANDIDATE TO DEAL (MURPH) IN RIGHT PKG (HALLIDAY?)
WITH ALL THIS CONDEMNATION OF A “BAD” SIGNING U CAN SUBDTITUTE PEREZ’ NAME FOR THE SAME POSTS LAST YR CONCERNING CASTILLO.
RELAX FANS, I’M SURE GREEN’S JUST MIRED IN A TEMPORARY SLUMP. JERRY’S USE HAS BEEN JUDICIOUS (SIMILAR TO JORGE JULIO’S ‘06). WE’RE FORTUNATE TO HAVE 2 DESTINCT BULLPENS RIGHT NOW: THE CLOSE & LATES: PARNELL,PUTZ,K-ROD
THE COMFY & LATES: STOKES & GREEN AS NEEDED
FELICIANO IS L FOR CLOSE UNIT. TAKA FOR COMFIES.
TOO MUCH PITCHING QUALITY OR OTHERWISE IS NEVER A BAD PROBLEM. AS COMFY PEN IMPROVES IN TRUSTINESS. PKG DEALS CAN REAP JUCIER FRUIT @ JULY DEADLINE EXCESS PITCHING FOR DEADLINE DEALS IS PRETTIER THAN A MADOFF INVESTMENT STATEMENT.
RELAX, REMEMBER: “IN OMAR WE ‘SHOULD’ TRUST” ONLY SHORTSIGHTED THINK OTHERWISE. SO FAR IN LONG RUN IT’S WORKING.
JERRY’S SHARING LOAD BET 2 PEN SECTTIONS WILL AVOID THE WORN DOWN PROBLEMS OF PAST STRETCHES.
HOW MANY WERE ON THOSE LEDGES DUE TO “SANTANA ELBOW PROBLEM”, “MAINE RECOVERY A QUESTION” HEADLINES? FUNNY, SEEMS, “CASTILLO A BUST” IS IN THE BS FILE AS SHOULD MOST OF THEM BE. NY PRESS LOVES PUSHING NYFAN’S BUTTONS. IT WAS NEVER IN BILL MADDEN WE TRUST” OR “JOHN HARPER WE TRUST”
HELL, IN ‘08 MADEN PICKED ATL TO WIN NL PENANT. BASEBALL IS FUNNY; BUT LIKE ROMMEL WE NEED TO JUDGE THE BATTLE AT THE TIP OF OUR FINGER. THE OTHER DAY, CASTILLO HITS 2 NIBLERS THAT FAIL TO GO 90′, BELTRAN HITS ONE ON THE SCREWS DOWN THE LINE INTO A DP? GO FIGURE. THIS IS WHY STATS ARE SUPPLEMENTAL TO WHAT YOU ACTUALLY SEE FOR YOURSELF & NOT A SUBSTITUTE! THIS SERIES IS LOWE V. SAINTANA, JURJENS V. PELF & REYES V.NEISE WHO KNOWS FOR CERTAIN? NO ONE; BUT I LIKE OUR CHANCES. I WOULDN’T BET MY HOUSE EITHER WAY; BUT MY HEART SAYS GO FOR 10!