4/14/15

Tom Brennan - ABOUT THOSE EIGHT RELIEVERS...



Tom Brennan - ABOUT THOSE EIGHT RELIEVERS...

Mets are 4-3 so far, not bad, all things considered.

But is this 8 guys in the bullpen thing good or bad?

Soup Campbell thinks it sucks.  I did not ask him, but I read minds.

Eric is 10 for 19 in AAA, with 3 walks, essentially unstoppable.  He had a fine year split between AAA and the Mets last year, a solid spring, too, but was dispatched to AAA because he has options. Poor slob.

One loss this weekend, an extra pinch hitter on the bench would have been quite useful, especially after Kirk Nieuwenhuis was announced as a pinch hitter, then pinch hit for.  So they had 2 actual pinch hitters in that game, plus a back-up catcher only to be used in an emergency. But who needs extra pinch hitters?

Meanwhile, in Yankeeville, Stephen Drew pinch hit a grand slam last night.  Yanks love pinch hit grand slams, especially from guys who in the first 7 games of the season are hitting so poorly that after the pinch slam, are still hitting just a buck ninety.  Having Drew available to pinch hit turned the tide of that game. 

Will the Mets run short of pinch hitters in a crucial game, and end up losing it? Possibly, so let's get that pen down to 7 quickly.

P.S.  Chris Young, who tortured Mets' fans last year with his offensive ineptitude, only to sign with, and then hit well with, the Yanks, is hitting .357 so far in 2015.  Weird.  Draw your own conclusions.

Have a great Harvey Day.  Hippy-Dippy meteorologist George Carlin is predicting a Dark Knight.

8 comments:

Reese Kaplan said...

The better question is who gets voted off the island in order to make room for potentially Campbell, Vic Black and Bobby Parnell?

Erik Goeddel is a no-brainer -- has options, is on the 40-man roster, not considered a top prospect. After that it gets murkier. A. Torres would likely be the next to go with Gilmartin having that Rule V thing in his favor and Blevins making Sandy look good. Third cut...? Carlyle? At age 37 he might accept assignment to AAA especially because the Mets did bring him north to start the year.

Christopher Soto said...

@Reese.

I think Goeddel being the 1st cut is the obvious choice.

As for the 2nd cut, I would have to think that it would Buddy Carlyle since both Parnell and Black are right handed.

Unfortunately, Soup will not get another opportunity at the MLB for now. In my opinion....his destiny is tied with Dillon Gee's.

Montero has nothing left to prove in AAA so the club is going to utilize however they can....he's the 8th reliever in the pen. Until they can trade Gee, I think the team is going to continue to operate with a short bench.

Mack Ade said...

My guess-

1st cut: Goeddel

2nd cut - Carlyle

Tom Brennan said...

I tend to note short term trends, and obviously Campbell has had an eye-openingly good start.

If the Mets' plan, with us having to add back Black and Parnell soon, is to continue to have an 8 man pen, then Soup better keep hitting .400 if he hopes to get back here any time soon. He'll have to replace someone who's faltering offensively.

The one advantage I see to "8 men in the pen" (a good title for a TV sit com) is to keep Harvey, deGrom and Niese healthy and fresh ali year. So the offensive guys have to hit, so we have more 6-0 leads to pull a Harvey after 6 innings and not have to worry about the pen caving in over the final 3 innings with a 1 or 2 run lead.

Mack Ade said...

I diaagree with Tom on the definition of 'trend'.

I don't think there is such a thing for less than a month.

The Mets are carrying 8 relievers because there pen has recently had the survival rate of helicopter pilots in Nam.

Frankly, so far it has worked. This team could easily be 6-1 for reasons other than relievers or utility players

Anonymous said...

Agree about the word "trend." Right now we are looking at blips.

Sadly, the blogosphere is becoming like talk radio -- gotta fill four hours, so blather away -- and early in the season there simply are not enough data points for anyone to make meaningful judgments about performance.

As for Torres, I don't believe that Sandy Alderson traded away Mazzoni and a PTBNL just so he could cut the guy in favor of Eric Campbell, who is not very good. A spare part at best.

James Preller

Unknown said...

My guess is the 8 man reliever system ends today. As of now Campbell is 1 for 1 in Vegas. I would bet my home he doesn't get a 2nd at bat and he will be on the next flight to NY. If Wright goes on the DL they will bring up 2 position players.
Today proved a 4 man bench is stupid.

Unknown said...

Campbell played a little longer than I thought he would. I was starting to worry about my house. No one took me up on that. He was just pulled and Vaughn replaced him. If Wright has to go on the DL I think they will send down a reliever and bring up someone like Reynolds. After this game I can't see them staying with 8 relievers. It is risky in a world that has no injuries it is stupid in this world that includes injuries.