24
2013
With Feliciano Sidelined, Battle for Second Lefty in Bullpen Begins
An article by 
Updated by HoJo on 2/24
Pedro Feliciano will be shut down for at least two weeks from baseball activity while he wears a heart monitor while the team doctors continue to monitor could be a potentially serious heart condition,
It’s not exactly clear if Feliciano has a hole in his heart or even if that’s the cause of his irregular heartbeat. The next two weeks will help doctors come to a more exact diagnosis of the problem.
“He has a heart condition that could possibly be very serious,” Terry Collins said. “That’s why while we are waiting for further results. He is not to be on the field.”
Feliciano, 36, was expected to be the second lefthanded reliever in the Mets bullpen this season along with sophomore Josh Edgin. But this situation could open things up for some of the other southpaws in camp like Scott Rice, Robert Carson and Aaron Laffey.
We’re all keeping Pedro in our thoughts and prayers with the hope that this is nothing serious and that he can get back on a mound again as soon as he can.
Original Post 2/23
Mets lefty reliever Pedro Feliciano is being shut down due to heart-related issues, according to Marc Carig of Newsday. Adam Rubin of ESPN New York, says that there is a “small hole” near the outside of Feliciano’s heart, but it does not appear to be life threatening.
The southpaw does not believe the issue to be serious, but as a precaution he will be fitted for a heart monitor. A timetable for his return to baseball-related activities has not been determined at this time.
We will continue to update you as more information is released.
About the Author: Dan Valis
I am a staff writer for Mets Merized Online. I am a Mets team analyst with a focus on the minor league system, as well as the major league club. I am a lifelong New Yorker who was born and raised to be a Mets fan. The ups and downs of being a Mets fan is what makes following this team so much fun, but at times so frustrating. You can follow me on Twitter @BgAppleMetsTalk.
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|---|---|---|---|---|
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Last updated: 05/19/2013
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Dang….hope he’ll be O.K.
Me too. I’m sue he’ll be on the team by May. It does open up at spot though…
Familia, Carson, Ramirez…one of the young power arms could take that spot with a good showing. I thought Pedro was a lock to make the team. This is why Sandy did well in grabbing so many guys to bring to camp.
LH Scott Rice has supposedly looked good too.
Carson has the 40-man roster spot in his favor, but Rice certainly is an option.
Or, Aaron Laffey takes the spot as 2nd lefty and long reliever and it does open a spot for Familia or E.Ramirez.
Hi CT,
It’s quality, not quantity that we should be concerned about. That some we are hoping for are signed to minor league contracts says a lot in itself.
How many dependable arms do we have going for us in spring training? I like the addition of Lyon to go along with Parnell and of those minor league invitees I think Atchison could work some dividends with Montero perhaps a year way but what they are most likely to produce is far too little from what is needed by from so many.
Familia could be a long man as well. He’s always been a starter so his arm is used to throwing over 100 pitches. Maybe it would be a bad idea to keep him stretched out to the point where going three innings isn’t a problem. He’d be a good power arm to bring in the later innings or one that could take the game from the fourth inning and get it to the seventh….like an old time reliever. Could be a good option. There should always be at least one long man so having another with Familia’s upside might be a great weapon.
When I read the headline I thought “WOW, that last year with the Mets seriously messed his arm up!” But if it’s a hole in the heart, hopefully for his sake, and to a far lesser extent the teams sake, it’s a non-issue that could be evasively fixed.
How does a hole, no matter how small, in your heart not be life threatening? I certainly wish Pedro the best and hope it can be fixed. His story certainly seemed like the “feel good” story of the spring for the Mets. Though I do wonder if Dan Warthen planned to continue to ‘abuse’ him again this year! LOL
good thing they caught it. And hopefully he ends up fine.
Odd though. Usually it is the Fans that need the heart monitor when a Met RP is up, not the other way around.
Why should we assume the Mets will carry a second lefty early on? I would think the Mets are more likely to start with only one given the 40-man roster issues and how we have at least 3 guys who need to be added.
If the Mets are going to go with a 2nd lefty, I think it would have to be someone who can also serve as the long man like Laffey or someone on the 40-man roster already like Carson as highly doubt they have any plans to have Hawkins or Atchison start in AAA if they are healthy.
Hefner/Laffey, Burke, Hawkins, Atchison, Edgin, Lyon, Parnell with Francisco replacing whichever RHP falters early…
The problem is they have to carry all those OFers on the Roster so they will not have the luxury of carrying extra pitchers…
NL teams always carry 12 pitchers and 5 OF nowadays so I’m not sure where you are going with this.
Considering Duda has been declared the everyday LF, we will be carrying 2 LH OF and 2 RH OF.
Kirk and Baxter are the likely starting OF against RHP and Cowgill and Byrd starting against LHP.
As for the infield we know who our starters and backup catcher are, so the other two spots will likely go to Turner and Hicks
They declared Hurricane Sandy was going to go out to sea four days before it hit too…How did that work out?
Declarations are intent not fact…If Duda struggles vs LHP he will get platooned as quickly as the rest!
That means 6 Ofers if you really want to platoon with Duda…
Baseball wise it sucks to see Perpetual Pedro shut down for 2 weeks but it’s great that the medical exams caught this before God forbid it became more serious.
With Feliciano’s status up in the air, I hope Darin Gorski wins a spot from ST as a second lefty.
Lefty in the bullpen? Who needs a left-hander in the bullpen?
Isn’t that what Sandy Alderson said last year?
Only concern with Pedro is his health. Let us hope that it is something that could be treated and be non-life threatening as he gets older. And yes, by inviting him to spring training, Pedro had to go through a thorough physical exam and who knows if this would have been noticed as quickly otherwise.