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Saturday, August 23, 2008

Dugout Central: DelGrippo: Forget Pitch Counts; Mets Need to Let Santana and Perez Loose

Just like their ligaments…

The Mets should forgo pitch counts for the balance of the season when Santana pitches and allow him to go the distance. With the division race (remember when it was the Pennant race?) likely going down to the wire again with the Phillies (and possibly the Marlins, too), the Mets need to win every one of Santana’s last eight or nine starts.

Santana has pitched very effectively in almost every start for six or seven innings. Jerry Manuel needs to let him know that his job description has been changed and that he needs to go eight or nine. With the Mets bullpen blowing another lead Monday afternoon, there is no reason for Manuel to ever pull Santana in favor of mediocre middle relievers like Aaron Heilman, Pedro Feliciano, Joe Smith, Scott Schoeneweis and Duaner Sanchez.

The same principle should apply to Oliver Perez. In his last 10 starts, Perez has gone 4-2 with a 2.19 ERA and, more importantly, the Mets are 8-2. Still, in those 10 starts, Perez has been allowed to average just 6.2 innings per. This is unacceptable given the state of the bullpen. He is much better a pitcher than any of the relievers mentioned above. It’s very likely Perez won’t return to the Mets next season, so Manuel needs to treat him like a rental player – similar to Sabathia. Let Perez go 120+ pitches every game and get through eight or more innings.

Repoz Posted: August 23, 2008 at 11:10 AM | 6 comment(s) | Login to Bookmark
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1. Fancy Pants Handle is the AntAgonizer Posted: August 23, 2008 at 12:52 PM (#2913767)

It’s very likely Perez won’t return to the Mets next season, so Manuel needs to treat him like a rental player...

Ok, everyone that thinks it's acceptable to ruin a guys health, because he won't be your problem next year,

a) does not deserve to call himself a baseball fan

and b) does deserve some hired goons to come around to his house and dislocate every single joint in his body.

2. Lassus: Posted: August 23, 2008 at 01:00 PM (#2913769)

Agree.

3. Autobahn Posted: August 23, 2008 at 01:24 PM (#2913774)

The funny thing is that by running santana and perez into the ground they become fatigued and therefore less effetive starters, which in turns leads to more reliance on the bullpen.

Plus you can expect billion dollar lawsuits from the pitchers if their arms blow out due to intended overuse.

4. Conor Posted: August 23, 2008 at 02:05 PM (#2913787)

This line

In his last 10 starts, Perez has gone 4-2 with a 2.19 ERA and, more importantly, the Mets are 8-2

doesn't really make a whole lot of sense next to this one

Still, in those 10 starts, Perez has been allowed to average just 6.2 innings per. This is unacceptable given the state of the bullpen.

It's so unacceptable, but the Mets have won 80% of those starts.

You could change it to something like the Mets should let Perez and Johan throw around 120 pitches in all of the close games; it's likely one of two of the games they pitch, if not more, will be a blowout on either side.

Manuel has definitely changed his stance with some of his pitchers anyway; I'd say at this point he is looking for an extra inning, or even an extra out or two, from all of his starters save for Maine. Santana did throw a career high number of pitches yesterday, but I saw him hit 94 in the 7th, which I believe was his fastest pitch of the night. I am a tad worried about him throwing all those pitches; he's thrown over 110 in 3 of his last 6 starts, but it isn't like he's a kid, and as long as the Mets are monitoring his workload I think everything should be ok.

Santana now has a 156 ERA+, which is 1 point better than his 05 season,a nd 5 behind his 06 season. I know many people have already handed the Cy over to Webb, and with the 19 wins he already has he is pretty much a lock, but Santana has a 156 ERA+ in 184 innings, Webb 166 in 184 as well; they are tied for the league lead in IP. It's possible Santana ends the season as the more deserving candidate.

5. Charlie O Posted: August 23, 2008 at 09:53 PM (#2914218)

With the division race (remember when it was the Pennant race?) likely going down to the wire...

Yeah, until the end of the 1960s. You got your stinkin' playoffs so baseball could be more like football and baseketball. Don't start complaining about it now.

6. Tom Cervo, backup catcher Posted: August 23, 2008 at 10:23 PM (#2914238)

It’s very likely Perez won’t return to the Mets next season, so Manuel needs to treat him like a rental player...

Why is Perez unlikely to be back next year? He's had success with them, they'll need him, and they obviously have the money to re-sign him. What am I missing?

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Saturday, August 23, 2008

Dugout Central: DelGrippo: Forget Pitch Counts; Mets Need to Let Santana and Perez Loose

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