It's Still Open
Last week wasn’t a great one for the Mets, who won just one of the seven games they played and the bullpen played a role in the demise of three leads. Nobody in the bullpen was particularly useful this week and only six pitchers were used in relief over the seven games. There’s a little bit of shuffling at the top and bottom in this week’s rankings as only one pitcher went the week without giving up a run and three members of last week’s list no longer wear a Mets uniform.
1. Miguel Batista
Season: 16 G, 4 GS, 31 IP, 3.48 ERA, 1.61 WHIP, 14 R, 12 ER, 30 H, 20 BB, 22 K,
Last Week: 3G, 3.3 IP. 0 R, 1 H, 3 BB, 3 K
Previous Ranking: Unranked (Injured)
Analysis: What a sad state of affairs it is when Miguel Batista becomes the most reliable guy in your bullpen. Only one pitcher made it through the week unscathed: Batista, perhaps the most unlikely of all to do so. For that reason alone, he tops the power rankings this week. Batista returned to the Mets on Tuesday to piggyback off the start of Chris Young and did so successfully, tossing two shutout innings. He pitched again on Wednesday in D.C. with another scoreless inning and made his final appearance on Friday, getting the last out in the seventh after Elvin Ramirez blew up. I can’t wait until this week when Batista’s effectiveness in low leverage spots last week leads to high leverage opportunities. /sarcasm
2. Frank Francisco
Season: 26 G, 24.1 IP, 5.55 ERA, 1.56 WHIP, 16 R, 15 ER, 28 H, 10 BB, 28 K, 15 Saves, 3 Blown Saves
Last Week: 2 G, 2.2 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 2 K, 1 Save, 1 Blown Save
Previous Ranking: 2
Analysis: Frank had a light week and didn’t even appear in the Yankees series despite the Mets carrying leads into the late innings of two games. He was trapped in his first appearance of the week, entering Tuesday’s game against the Nationals with a runner on second and one out in the eighth, looking for a five-out save. A two-out single by Ian Desmond put an end to that, but Francisco got four more outs, putting the Mets in a position to win in extra innings. They nearly did, if not for the misgivings of the defense and other members of the bullpen. Two days later, Frank helped the Mets salvage their only win of the week, working around a solo homer by Ryan Zimmerman in the ninth on Thursday to pick up his 15th save.
3. Tim Byrdak
Season: 34 G, 16.2 IP, 3.78 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, 7 ER, 8 H, 7 BB, 21 K, 13 Holds, 1 Blown Save
Last Week: 4 G, 2 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 1 K
Previous Ranking: 1
Analysis: Considered the most reliable member of the Mets bullpen for most of last season and the start of this one, Byrdak hasn’t been at his best of late. He allowed baserunners in two of his four outings this week and both times they came around to score, including the tying run in Tuesday’s loss to the Nats. Byrdak has now made a major league high 34 appearances this season through 61 games and remains the only lefthander in the Mets pen. It might be time to summon another (Josh Edgin has been tearing up AAA) to relieve some of Byrdak’s workload or he could be burnt out by the All-Star break.
4. Bobby Parnell
Season: 32 G, 26.2 IP, 3.71 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 14 R, 11 ER, 32 H, 8 BB, 27 K, 12 Holds, 3 Blown Save
Last Week: 5 G, 3.2 IP, 4 R, 3 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 5 K, 2 Blown Saves, 1 Hold
Previous Ranking: 3
Analysis: It was a busy week for Parnell, who is on the verge of challenging Byrdak for the MLB lead in appearances. Parnell pitched in five games this week and the Mets lost four of them. He opened the week with a flawless inning in Monday’s home loss to the Cards, but the defense deserted him on the road. On Tuesday, Parnell came on to close out the game in the 10th, but two errors by Jordany Valdespin allowed the tying run to score.
Parnell got the hold in Thursday’s win, picking up R.A. Dickey in the eighth, but things unraveled further in the Bronx. He entered Saturday’s game with the Mets trailing by just one run and allowed a homer to Curtis Granderson. Then on Sunday, a grounder under the glove of Omar Quintanilla opened the floodgates as Parnell allowed four straight hits to blow a lead to the Yankees.
5. Jon Rauch
Season: 25 G, 22 IP, 4.09 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 11 R, 10 ER, 23 H, 4 BB, 12 K, 5 Holds, 3 Blown Saves
Last Week: 3 G, 2 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 2 K, 1 Hold, 1 Loss
Previous Ranking: 4
Analysis: Rauch was victimized by the longball this week, both homers leading directly to Mets losses. On Monday, the Mets came back from down 1-0 and 3-1 only to see Rauch give up a two-run blast to Allen Craig in the eighth. They lost 5-4. Rauch missed the entire series in D.C. with elbow soreness and was found to have debris in his throwing elbow. It sounded like a DL trip was in the offing, but Rauch came back to pitch a scoreless innings in Friday’s loss. But after recording a big final out in the eighth on Sunday to put the Mets in a position to tie, Rauch started the ninth and served up the death knell of a sweep in the Bronx when Russell Martin pulled a 3-2 pitch into the left field stands for a 208-foot walk off homerun.
6. Elvin Ramirez
Season: 3 G, 4 IP, 13.50 ERA, 3.75 WHIP, 6 ER, 8 H, 7 BB, 4 K
Last Week: 2 G, 3.1 IP, 5 ER, 6 H, 7 BB, 3 K, 1 Loss
Previous Ranking: 5
Analysis: It’s pretty clear by now that Elvin Ramirez is not ready for the show. Ramirez throws very hard, but he hasn’t been able to locate any of his pitches at this level yet. I’d gripe about the way he’s been used — multiple innings each time — but it’s kind of irrelevant at this point. Seven walks in two outings is dreadful even for a starter, to do it over just three-and-a-third innings is asking for trouble. Elvin served up the win to the Nats on Tuesday as the last available pitcher, allowing two to score in the 12th after the Mets had just taken the lead again. He didn’t pitch again until Friday, when he got long duty behind an ineffective Johan Santana and helped the Yankees turn a 6-0 lead into a 9-1 rout. Pedro Beato or Josh Edgin would seemingly be a much better choice for innings the big league roster than Ramirez at this point.
Not listed: Ramon Ramirez, Jack Egbert, Chris Schwinden, Manny Acosta, Pedro Beato
Last week’s bottom four have all been removed from the pen. Acosta, Schwinden and Egbert were all designated for assignment. Acosta and Egbert both cleared waivers and were assigned back to Buffalo. Schwinden was claimed by the Blue Jays, who DFA’d him just hours later. He is now a member of the Indians organization. After spending the first two months of the season on the DL, Beato was called up and available in the bullpen on Wednesday and Thursday, but never pitched. He returned to Buffalo on Friday when Chris Young came off the paternity leave list.
