Brewers v Mets - Bullpen
I was asked to compare the weak links of the Brewers and Mets {the bullpen}.Let’s assume bullpen has 1 long man, 1 closer, 4 Right handed set up and 1 LOOGY….
Closer Torres v Ayala. I would have to give edge to Torres. I really likethe lack of HRs Torres has given up (not including Soto’s bomb that almost killed the playoff chances) and his groundball tendencies. 2:1 ratio is excellent.
RH Setup Gagne, Mota, Riske, Coffey, Villanueva v Heilman, Smith, Sanchez, Stokes. I would go with Gagne, Coffey, Villanueva, and Smith out of that group. Heilman is very hittable, and I think is still pissed he was never given a chance to start. Sanchez is still coming off a major injury, and has been very up and down. Mota and Stokes are basically roster filler, that will mix in a few good outings with can of gasoline fire outings. Villanueva has been phenomanol coming out of the pen. He would be my 8th inning guy in this group. Gagne has been very good since coming off DL, but couldn’t be trusted in a one run game due to HR related mistakes.
LOOGY: Feliciano has put up: .195/.270/.291 against Lefties, with 2HRs allowed and a 33/8 K/BB, while Shouse has put up: .170/.190/.286. with 28/2 K/BB, (One of those intentional to Ryan Howard) and given up 2 HRs as well. Pretty close, but Shouse has the edge with a .190 OBP v .270
Long Man: Figureoa v McClung: About even. McCLung has been in more pressure situations, but hasn’t pitched any better.
Overall, I give a slight edge to MIL, although I didn’t realize till this morning that the Blown Saves were about even, and almost as bad as STL…
Thoughts? Will this decide the Wild Card???
September 28th, 2008 at 11:51 pm
The Mets suck. That decided the Wild Card. I can’t believe a team blew it down the stretch two seasons in a row… and I’ve followed the Red Sox all my life, mind you. Mercy - how can that group possibly *ever* contend for a playoff spot *now*? Minaya has to blow it up - not cuz it’s anyone’s fault, per se… but just cuz as long as this core group is together, they will think about (and endlessly be reminded about) their back-to-back failures and it will haunt them and cause them to continue to fail. New blood is needed - and I wonder if the it’s not needed at the GM level (where I believe Minaya was recently handed a contract extension, no?).