Mets Bullpen Could Be A Team Strength Down The Stretch

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• Donal August 3, 2012 at 12:41 pm

  Oh, man, I do not envy you right now.

  But, ya, the pen is streaky and has some bad performances, but when its good, its untouchable. Add Edgin to that mix, and we should have a slightly easier time down the stretch.
• Mr North Jersey August 3, 2012 at 12:45 pm

  “Reliever Jon Rauch has turned it around and has been one of the team’s most effective relievers since back in June.”

  This.

  There is no doubt that Rauch after a brief nice start to the season had an 18 game stretch that was just terrible but since that stretch Rauch has been very good. Rauch over his last 21 appearances going back to June 8 is 0-2 with 7 holds posting a 1.72/ERA and a .127/BAA while allowing 0 of 8 inherited runners to score.

  Add the emergence of Edgin to the pen along with Byrdak and Parnell outside of a closer’s role and if Francisco can continue to pitch the way he was before he went to the dl which was over his last 15 games 10 saves 1 blown save a 1.76/ERA and a .200/BAA the pen has the possibility of being better.
• Hodges14 August 3, 2012 at 12:56 pm

  Nothing like a good dose of common sense to make a blog post pop.
• srt August 3, 2012 at 1:03 pm

  Here’s hoping FF’s return makes this BP that much better.

  Heard a comment that even though he’s returning, with that oblique injury he might not be the exclusive closer. I’m guessing he will be until he either fails or the injury flairs up. And are they trying to say he’s not healed 100%? If yes, I have to wonder why he’s returning.
• MetsMan86 August 3, 2012 at 1:17 pm

  A turn of fortunes for the pen would be too little too late for this season. The rest of the season is an audition for the pen and a chance for Frank Frank to show us fans he’s deserving of the closers role going into next year.
• USMF August 3, 2012 at 1:42 pm

  I’m not sure if I’d use the term “Strength”, but if FF can keep his meltdowns to a min, they should be better than what they gave us in July.

  Remember, just because some one is in a good stretch now, does not mean that they can’t just as easily turn back into what they were… we arn’t talking about All-Stars here, at the end of the day they are still Rauch, Francisco, Byrdak and Parnell…and there is some guy named Manny out there too…
  • Mr North Jersey August 3, 2012 at 1:49 pm

    “Remember, just because some one is in a good stretch now, does not mean that they can’t just as easily turn back into what they were”

    Agreed that is why I believe HoJo prefaced it with “Could Be” as opposed to “Will Be”.
• BadBadLeroyBrown August 3, 2012 at 5:52 pm

  “Mets Bullpen Could Be A Team Strength Down The Stretch”

  LMAO….And Jason Bay can bounce back =D

  And..Fairy tales may come true
  it can happen to you!
  • mitch petanick August 3, 2012 at 9:08 pm

    They need to bring in Kenny fn Powers
• Russell Zanca August 3, 2012 at 7:10 pm

  In my most wishful moments, HJ, I think I would re-entitle your headline, “Mets Bullpen Just Might Not Suck That Much as We Head into the Stretch”
• Joey D. August 3, 2012 at 8:29 pm

  Will give credit when credit is due and Jon certainly deserves it. Rauch has given up just two earned runs in his last 14 or so innings (18 appearances) with seven holds against just one loss and didn’t let some close games get out of hand when we were trailing in the late innings. And two earned runs in approximately 15 innings by our closer is what one expects, so Frank was coming on as well before being sidelined. Had he still been

  However, the won-lost record does not differentiate between games played in April, May and September so though not pressurizing, Rauch and Francisco cost us many a game the first half of the season in which if they had performed just mildly better then they actually did, we would today find ourselves in a healthier position for a wildcard.

  However, will be very happy if both could continue their turnaround and at least salvage for us a decent season – and, as we all learned from last year, teams can collapse and one considered completely out of the running can come back to surprise everybody. But we also have to keep in mind we took three out of four from a Giant team whose record could be grossly inflated due to having a .500 Arizona along with very bad San Diego and Colorado teams in their division. Despite all their problems, I also believe had the Mets been in a division with that trio of teams to face 18 (?) times a year, they would be in a much better position as well.