Apr
28
2012

Chris Young Could Make Pelfrey’s Loss Less Painful

An article by Brandon Butler

The Mets suffered a huge blow to the starting rotation when it was learned that Mike Pelfrey would be out for the remainder of the season (and a good chunk of next season) due to a partial tear of his UCL (Ulnar Collateral Ligament) in his pitching elbow. Because of the tear, Pelfrey is now having Tommy John Surgery and will require a full year to recover before beginning rehab.

With Pelfrey out, the Mets called up Chris Schwinden to replace him in the Mets rotation. Schwinden is a good call-up for a temporary role in the rotation, but I feel as though he may not be the answer in the long-term. Last night, once Rockies hitters got a second and third look at him, they touched him up pretty good,

During the broadcast last night, Gary Cohen talked about the possibility of calling up top prospects Matt Harvey or Jeurys Familia to fill Pelfrey’s spot in the rotation. But I don’t see the Mets calling upon any of the top prospects until September and that’s assuming they prove to be up for the task.

The Mets have taken their time developing these pitchers and they will be up with the big-club soon enough, but there is no way that the team would simply rush them now in an act of desperation.

One option the Mets should consider is Chris Young.

The Mets right-hander is currently rehabbing in Florida with the Single-A St. Lucie Mets and many believe that he will become available to pitch by the end of May or early June.

Young could bring a steady veteran presence to the rotation if he can return to the form we saw early last season before the injury. He may soon be ready to give the Mets some much-needed quality starts, and together with Santana, Niese and Dickey, could give the Mets a pretty solid top four as they head into the dog days of summer and try to stay in the thick of things.

About the Author: Brandon Butler

Brandon is currently a MMO Minor League Staff Writer. He is also the co-host of the Mets Madness Podcast on Talkshoe Radio. Brandon lives in Hornell, NY.

9 Comments + Add Comment

K Maxx April 28, 2012 at 11:14 am

Yeah, great idea! Lets put our hopes into a pitcher who hasn’t pitched healthy since 2007. This was an awful signing just as it was last season. I could think of a hundred better ways to spend millions of dollars. There were plenty of pitchers out there who were healthy and cheap but all they could do is go after players they have a history with and ignore all the others.
Stick April 28, 2012 at 11:14 am

familia is far from ready. Harvey, if he gets fully sorted, could be up by August, but only if he is really fully ready for the promotion.

Young in may would be a very good thing.
86mets April 28, 2012 at 12:37 pm

A better option? For how many starts? 4, before he gets hurt again? If he were 100% healthy and you could count on it, then, yes, Chris Young might be the best option. But he hasn’t been 100% in years so there’s no way you can depend on him filling in for 15-20 starts if he indeed is ready to go by late May or early June. But, such is the depth (or extreme lack thereof) of the Mets system that the only options you have are either young, unproven, and likely unready pitchers (Harvey / Familia), unproven non-prospects (Schwinden), or high injury risk types (Young).

Most teams fill up their AAA teams with players with some ML experience to have around in case of emergency. Now, the Mets have signed some such positional players (Rob Johnson, Fred Lewis come to mind) but did nothing on the pitching side expect for some possible relief help (Olson and James). Now that lack of planning is coming back to bite them. It’s one thing to control expenses, but another entirely to just be cheap and hope that your 25 man roster stays healthy and/or productive for 162 games.
- Reese April 28, 2012 at 1:50 pm
  
  The answer is more likely Darin Gorski in AA who is already 24 and pitching on cruise control. He’s already had 350 IP in the minors and isn’t a control-challenged pitcher that blows people away who needs more seasoning.
  - Fonzie13 April 28, 2012 at 2:38 pm
    
    I agree Reese. This kid knows how to pitch and commands the strikezone. I wouldn’t be shocked at all to see both Edgin and Gorski up here sometime around the allstar break. Both seem to be on the fast track.
    
    As far as Young goes, I doubt he even gives us the 4 starts he gave us last year. He had the same injury as Johan and had surgey less than a year ago. I can’t see how he builds up enough arm strength to pitch in the majors at any point this year and if he happens to defy the odds, just how long will he last.
    - Stick April 28, 2012 at 2:43 pm
      
      I love Gorski. He was my bet too for 1st guy promoted as a SP. He does seem the most complete (as in, he has developed all that he is going to in the minors).
      
      Young? If anything, I look at him as part of the filler brigade (the guys you try to piece together enough starts out of the fill the gaps)/ Schwinden will get a few, probably Hefner for some, Batista already got one, etc. So if Young even manages to give them 10 respectable starts, it would be a huge plus.
Fonzie13 April 28, 2012 at 2:43 pm

By the way, I watched Familia’s start yesterday and he looked like a righthanded version of Oliver Perez. 7 walks in 3 innings, walking the bases loaded to start the top of the 4th before being yanked. He has nasty stuff but can’t command it at all. This is the 2nd start of his I got to watch and came away unimpressed. If he can’t figure out a way to command his stuff then he might not even be a good reliever. He’s still young so hopefully he can figure it out.
Amazin April 28, 2012 at 6:41 pm

Apparently many of theses poster get their supposed thoughts directly from the Met front office. Young. What a hope!!!! What’s the over under on games before he’s done. 1,m 2, 3…. Yeah it takes a true novice to think Young can help any team.
sarge69 April 29, 2012 at 12:38 am

I’m with you 86mets; Young is not reliable as a replacement for Pelf; Schwinden ain’t either but he doesn’t get hurt after a month of pitching, 5 maybe 6 innings a strain on BP.

I say bring up Gorski, another awesome LH in AA but I know, too soon but he sure looks good so far and should be ready by the time Johan’s contract is up.

Depth seems to be a problem especially with Johan pitching good but he might hit a wall later in season for lack of innings since 2010 so who do Mets bring up or make it rotation by BP, not.

Batista might have been a option if not for his sudden lack of control and he is too hittable so this is what SA gets paid the big bucks for, we need an answer soon when off days become as rare as a reliable option for Mets starting rotation

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