Category Archives: Pitching Staff

What’s Wrong with Heilman?

Posted on April 25, 2008 by Joe Janish

If you are one of those fans who has come to hate Aaron Heilman (for example, if you refer to him as “poopyface” or something less family-friendly), then please don’t bother reading further — your opinion likely can’t be changed … Continue reading →

Posted in Pitching Staff | 4 Comments

Where Is Ricardo Rincon?

Posted on April 16, 2008 by Joe Janish

During spring training, non-roster invitee Ricardo Rincon looked like he might make Scott Schoeneweis expendable, seeming to have recaptured the form that made him one of baseball’s elite lefthanded middle relievers and a favorite of Billy Beane in the early … Continue reading →

Posted in Pitching Staff, Where Are They Now | 5 Comments

Claudio Vargas and Dan Johnson

Posted on April 10, 2008 by Joe Janish

Yesterday when I saw the post headline on MetsBlog that said “Mets Close to Vargas, Johnson DFA’d” I thought for sure that Jason Vargas was having a splendid comeback from surgery and that Ben Johnson was being released. That Heath … Continue reading →

Posted in News Notes Rumors, Pitching Staff | 10 Comments

Why Change?

Posted on April 10, 2008 by Joe Janish

During the SNY broadcast last night, Ron Darling brought up the fact that Major League teams have a “systematic way” in spring training of deciding that every one of their young pitchers throw a good changeup. He added that he … Continue reading →

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Willie’s Double Standard

Posted on April 9, 2008 by Joe Janish

Are pitchers graded on different scales, based on what’s expected of them? In the SNY postgame after the Mets win over the Phillies, Adam Rubin asked Willie Randolph if judging a performance is specific to the pitcher, and why Pelfrey’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Pitching Staff | 5 Comments

The Fifth Starter

Posted on April 8, 2008 by Joe Janish

Some people wonder why I’m so panicked regarding the Mets’ fifth starter. After all, how many teams have a solid fifth starter? All we need is a guy to go out there and give us 5 decent innings, keep the … Continue reading →

Posted in Pitching Staff | 3 Comments

He Told You So

Posted on April 2, 2008 by Joe Janish

It looks like Pedro Martinez may be placed on the 15-day DL any minute now, though it may not be as bad as we feared. So now we’ll assume the Mets will promote Nelson Figueroa to fill the fifth starter … Continue reading →

Posted in Mets Injuries, Pitching Staff | 4 Comments

Pedro Panic

Posted on April 2, 2008 by Joe Janish

Assuming the worst — that Pedro Martinez will be out for a significant period of time — what are the Mets options for the starting rotation? Orlando Hernandez is already down until mid-April, and no one’s convinced he’ll be healthy … Continue reading →

Posted in Mets Injuries, Pitching Staff | 10 Comments