Thursday, May 24, 2007
Perez
Well, with last night's yeoman's effort (122 pitches, 7 innings) Ollie is now 3-0 vs. Braves, and in fact has our only 3 wins against Braves. I think last night's game was a critical victory for Perez for two reasons. First, I think it gives him confidence to realize that as long as he stays calm and in control, he can dominate. Regardless of whether he doesn't have perfect stuff that night (2 hit batters, 2 BBs, only 5 Ks), and regardless of whether Mets aren't giving him any run support, he needs to have the composure to realize his stuff is so good that he can still dominate and win. You can clearly see some of Glavine's influence rubbing off on him in this respect of maintaining focus and composure at all times. Second, he is really in the Braves' heads now. This could prove critical down the stretch, and particularly in playoffs.
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Also, based on how devastating it would have been to blow a lead late in last night's game, I think it's safe to assume that Joe Smith is now our 8th inning guy in Willie's mind.
Good observation.. I agree, it appears Smith is the guy, and rightly so. Losing last night's game in the 8th, the way Heilman blew it for Glavine-Smoltz a few weeks ago, would've been unthinkable. We must send a message to the Braves.
Let's see where we are:
Schoenweis: worst reliever to wear a Mets uni in a while
Sele: close to the worst
Heilman: can be good at times, but far too inconsistent for my liking. At his worst, he's a complete game killer.
Smith and Feliciano: unbelievably solid seasons so far, very consistent and highly trustworthy
Wagner: some standard "wagner"-esque drama in most games with walks or hits, but you can't argue with his success so far this year. He's definitely delivered, no doubt about it. At this point last year, he had 10 saves, 3 blown, and 3.09 ERA. This year, he's 11-0-0.9..
I look forward to getting Mota back. Mota - Smith - Feliciano - Wagner looks pretty good, but it would be nice to have someone who could chew up 2-3 innings if necessary like Darren Oliver last year. Sele is not that guy. I'm still not sure why we didn't resign Oliver. even if his age was a concern, it's not like he signed for a ton of money ($1.5-2M / year) It's a very fair amount for a guy you're asking to pitch 2 quality innings every 4th game.
If Mota-Feliciano is your 7th inning combo, and Smith your 8th inning guy, I like Heilman as a long guy.
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