This is a tough post for me to write. I’ve been a fan of Mike Pelfrey since he came up and I’ve defended him countless times over the years. I even suggested right here last season that the Mets should lock up Mike Pelfrey based on his great 1st half. With each start since than, it looks like I was wrong. Pelfrey is certainly no ace of any rotation and sadly does not look much like a serviceable major league pitcher anymore.
This season has been inconsistent at best for Big Pelf. He’s currently 5-9 with an ERA of 4.73. He’s back to licking his hand, pacing the mound and I think I’ve seen him talking to himself again at least once this season. Pelf is not the young kid with potential anymore, he’s a 27 year old with 5 years experience and he’s running out of excuses. He can’t pitch to certain catchers, implodes if an umpire squeezes him, can’t get his head together because his sports psychologist passed away, etc… Enough is enough.
Pelfrey is one of the most frustrating pitchers to root for. There are starts when he looks brilliant, such as in his start on June 18 against the Angles, then there are starts like last night that makes you want to pull your hair out. Reminds me a lot of Oliver Perez, you never know which Mike Pelfrey is going to show up on any given start.
Like I said I’m a fan of Pelf, I think he’s a good guy and I believe he is talented but perhaps he is not cut out for New York. I think once this season is finally over it’s time to non-tender Mike Pelfrey and move on from him.
