We all know the Mets added a power bat in Jason Bay, are still dealing with injuries/medical issues to key players like Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran, and have huge holes in the starting rotation. But I haven’t heard as much talk about the bullpen. A year ago, almost to the day, I wrote a blog on this site about how the Mets’ revamped bullpen, a terrible weakness in 2008, would pile up K’s and blow hitters away–with K-Rod, JJ Putz and Bobby Parnell at the back end of the pen.
K-Rod had a nice season, but his dip from 62 saves in Los Angeles the year before to 35 with the Mets was both a reflection on the Mets having a bad season and him being a bit inconsistent. His 3.71 ERA was also way inflated from his 2.24 mark the previous season. Putz was pitching pretty well before blowing out an elbow and being put on the DL about a third of the way into the 2009 season. And Parnell was great at times, and a gas can at others.
So now, how do you feel knowing that K-Rod is coming off a sub-par season, with Parnell, Kelvim Escobar, Jose Feliciano, Sean Green, Pat Misch and Ryota Igarashi behind him? On paper, this bullpen is almost as much of a question mark as the starting rotation is. That’s not to say they can’t overachieve and keep the team in games, but how likely is that? And the rotation is not exactly the kind of group that will give the bullpen long stretches of rest at a time. To the contrary, they will be called upon to pitch 2-3 innings each night.
So I ask you, how do you all feel about this bullpen?
