What can you say about Mike Pelfrey that hasn’t been said already? I am running out of superlatives I can use to describe how special and how amazing his season continues to be.
Last night’s performance may have been his best one yet…
Nine solid innings of one run ball with eight strikeouts and no walks. A complete game three-hitter. The one run he gave up didn’t even come until the ninth inning… Outstanding.
It was his second consecutive complete game, a feat that was last accomplished in 1995 by Bret Saberhagen.
Pelfrey improved his record to 13-8 and is now just two wins away from a 15 win season in just his second full season in the majors.
He continues to grow into a solid top of the rotation starter, and there are some who already consider him the ace of the team. I’m not exactly on board with that notion yet, but I can be easily swayed.
I think what impresses me most about Big Pelf is his composure on the mound and his bulldog mentality. He trusts his stuff enough to keep firing strikes down the middle of the plate. He dares the hitters to swing away and most of the time they do only to hit a weak grounder to second or short… or the alternative is swinging wildly at a pitch in the dirt.
It’s so remarkable to see a top draft pick actually join the team and perform at such a high level. It’s been a long time since we last had a home grown starting pitcher rise to the level that Mike Pelfrey has. The last Mets pitcher that comes to mind is Dwight Gooden… and while Pelfrey wont dazzle you with his velocity like Doc did, he will certainly tantalize you with what is quickly becoming the best sinker in the league.
Every generation of Mets fans have had their glimpse of pure magic in the form of a home grown ace pitcher. The sixties and seventies had Seaver, the eighties and nineties had Gooden, and now we are on the verge of adding a new name among the all-time great Mets starting pitchers. The magic continues…
My hat’s off to you, Big Pelf.
