Monday, April 23, 2012

My Main Concern

The Mets have looked good this season.  At 8-6 they have impressed even if it's just fourteen games into the season.  Their offense has shown some life and will only improve once Ike Davis starts hitting and if Jason Bay figures things out.  Their starting pitching has been stellar, save two games in Atlanta.  Even most of the bullpen has been solid.  The only big concern I have is with closing.

Frank Francisco didn't look good in Spring Training.  He couldn't seem to get an out but most people looked past it because most of the bullpen struggled during Spring Training.  However, now Jon Rauch is pitching well, Tim Byrdak has returned, and Miguel Batista has been scarcely used.  Bobby Parnell has continued to impress as well.  Francisco has become the weak link in this bullpen and it's frustrating.  I gave Spring Training a pass because everyone struggled and he had knee issues.  He also used the excuse that he would be ready once the lights come on, so I he got another pass for the poor spring results.

But now the lights are on and he still isn't doing his job.  Mike Pelfrey pitched one of the best games of his career and ultimately had nothing to show for it.  Terry Collins had to burn through other bullpen arms because Francisco couldn't get out of his own jam.  Teams are stubborn with their closers.  The Mets have to find a way to not waste the "big offseason signing" while also not sacrificing wins.  The Mets haven't seemed to have a reliable closer since Billy Wagner in 2006, and even that is a stretch.  It would be nice if Frank Francisco worked out but they also shouldn't force feed their "closer" into situations he won't make it out of.  How many quality outings from starting pitchers can they afford to waste?

Hopefully this conflict will just be a distant memory come June.  After all, we are talking about a small sample size.



Ah, well.
Let's Go Mets!

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