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May 5, 2010 Mets Injuries Joe Janish

Kelvim Escobar Out for the Year

Stunning, shocking headline, I know. We were all counting on the once-nearly-good Escobar to handle the eighth inning for the Mets, but he has suffered an out-of-the-blue setback that requires season-ending surgery.

This wasn’t even going to be given the importance of a post, since we more or less wrote off Escobar the day we heard he couldn’t grip a baseball (and for those who kept the faith, his “weakness” might have sent you toward reality). The idea that he might pitch at all in 2010 was considered a joke, in fact.

But after the official news of Escobar’s impending surgery broke, I received several emails from you, the loyal readership, and felt compelled to address the issue.

So … there goes $1.5M down the drain. To be fair, it was much less painful (pardon the pun) a loss than last year’s J.J. Putz debacle. Had the Mets signed him to be an extra arm, or “gravy”, rather than as “the guy” for the 8th inning, it would have been a logical, safe gamble.

The good news is, the Mets have a backup plan in place named Ryota Igarashi.

Oh, wait … he’s on the DL, isn’t he? So then it must be Sean Gre… never mind. I guess I meant Kiko Calero. Oh shoot, Calero is in AAA because he was signed so late (after it was discovered Escobar could grip a pen but not a ball), and he allowed 7 runs in his last outing for Buffalo, didn’t he? Well, that’s better than Johan Santana did in his last appearance, so there’s that. Luckily, the Mets have Brian Stokes. Er, I mean … Bobby Parnell. No, that’s not right, either … um … who IS the setup man?

Ah, relief pitching is overrated anyway … better to have spent big bucks on second-string catchers and experienced backup infielders.

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Joe Janish began MetsToday in 2005 to provide the unique perspective of a high-level player and coach -- he earned NCAA D-1 All-American honors as a catcher and coached several players who went on to play pro ball. As a result his posts often include mechanical evaluations, scout-like analysis, and opinions that go beyond the numbers. Follow Joe's baseball tips on Twitter at @onbaseball and at the On Baseball Google Plus page.
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  1. Dan H. May 5, 2010 at 10:34 am
    How could you bash the Mets bullpen as you did in this post when the Mets bullpen has been virtually lights out without any of those scrubs you mentioned. Nieve has more than earned the 8th inning role so far this season.
  2. Walnutz15 May 5, 2010 at 11:55 am
    I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m reserving the right to comment about the bullpen for much later on in the season.

    It’s far too early to call anything a sure-fire “success” right now.

    At this rate, a lot of guys are going to be fighting through the summer.

    Hopefully, guys like Elmer Dessens, Bobby Parnell, et al – are getting themselves ready for the call-up in June or so.

    The Mets are going to need guys like them — not only to come up, but to contribute — before all’s said and done.

  3. astromets May 5, 2010 at 4:58 pm
    I think more time needs to be spent addressing the point from the end of your post, you know, that the Mets are trying to win in upstate NY and not Queens. That is why they signed all those AAAA players who play the corners and assigned them up there instead of the Mets bench (and Cora and Tatis for MLB at their price). Although it is no given those guys would be hitting so well off the bench, they at least deserve a chance; and Carter hit his way onto the team in spring training, but no one noticed.

    I agree with Walnutz, Jerry is going to cause someone’s arm to fall off – early money is on Nieve or Feliciano. I think Parnell and Calero will be ready and hope we don’t need much more…

  4. Mic May 5, 2010 at 7:54 pm
    At least they didnt roll Escobar out with sticky tape and make up excuses when he coughed up games.

    I can think of better examples of ‘theft’ in baseball terms…Mo vaughn, robbie Alomar, Mel rojas, brian Mccrae to name a few.

    What disturbs me is;

    A. the starting pitching
    and b. Jerry;