As the Mets relax on their off day today, I thought it’d be appropriate to look back at the last few games and see where things took a turn for the worse.
Blame Yankee Stadium all you want. Sure, Russel Martin’s homer yesterday was definitely of the “wall-scraping” variety, but the Mets blew numerous opportunities to add on. Their offense has been pretty clutch thus far this year, but those big hits just happened to be missing during the three-game sweep in the Bronx.
That’s not my biggest concern, though. I don’t care that the Yankees swept the Mets, because a sweep stinks no matter who gives it to you. This team has a glaring weakness that has the potential to spread like the Plague, and that’s the bullpen.
Who do you trust? I can’t think of anyone other than Tim Byrdak that’s been money this season. Bobby Parnell has the goods, but he seems to have trouble with consistency. Jon Rauch was good early on, but he has become less and less effective as the season has wore on.
I was excited when I heard Elvin Ramirez was called up, but it’s been a nightmare each time we’ve seen him. His inability to put the ball in the strike zone is something the team just can not deal with. Frank Francisco? He’s been better than his ERA would indicate, but he has “Armando Benitez” written all over him. PS, did you hear Benitez now plays for the Long Island Ducks?
Miguel Batista is journeyman long reliever, but he can not be counted on for a huge role in the ‘pen. Who do we trust? What do we do? This team has the worst ERA in the majors, and Terry Collins is running out of options. It may be time for Sandy Alderson to pick up the phone and make a move, because we need to improve that bullpen if there’s any hope of competition.
