Sandy must quickly find Amazin' relief
SANDY Alderson and his lieutenants have done plenty to fortify a contender and yet there is more to do.
Before the end of this month — and, really, the sooner the better — the Mets general manager must acquire another lateinning reliever.
This is particularly frustrating because at the dawn of the season the Mets obtained Jerry Blevins and Alex Torres and in the past few weeks Tyler Clippard and Eric O’Flaherty. They have reached down into the system for power arms, notably Hansel Robles and, they hope soon again, Erik Goeddel.
But their core plan to have a powerhouse endgame down the stretch has flitted away with Jerry Blevins falling off a curb, Jenrry Mejia falling off the drug wagon and Bobby Parnell falling victim to the ups and downs of returning from Tommy John surgery. The failure of Parnell is having a doublewhammy because it is creating that air of negativity at Citi Field that can consume the energy and confidence of a whole team.
Manager Terry Collins admitted “a little concern” about Parnell after he was the central villain in an ugly top of the seventh that assured the Pirates would complete a threegame sweep at Citi Field with an 81 triumph. Know the score was 11 when Parnell entered.
The Mets can point to positive overall pen numbers. But the trust level is ebbing as the pressure gauge on the season ratchets up. Collins can believe in Jeurys Familia (assuming he can handle a pennant race) and Clippard and …
Afterward, Collins wanted to emphasize the big picture, stating that if he was told in May that his team could be 4 ¹/₂ games up with 44 to play, he would have signed up for that.
But if you are looking for how the Mets blow a comfortable division lead — how this becomes 20072008, redux — well, it begins at the end.
Look, this is not a time you want to be looking for relief aid. Any worthwhile arms are being blocked on waivers. What is getting through are guys who have caused agita elsewhere. Yet, Alderson is going to have to lean on his scouts and analytic folks to make the best calculated guess as to who has 1015 strong appearances from a group that has gotten through waivers and includes former closers Addison Reed (Dia mondbacks), Fernando Rodney (Mariners), John Axford (Rockies), Edward Mujica (A’s) and David Aardsma (Braves).
Or they might have to swallow hard and decide Steve Matz is more valuable in the pen than as a sixth starter — though his longterm health and the health of the other starters whose innings would get saved if Matz starts will probably mitigate against that.
Look, the Mets might win the division without reconfiguring the pen because the Nationals might be proving the most fake of powerhouses. Stunningly, the Mets are the lone NL East team over .500. But the Mets also have pretty much assured they must win the NL East to reach the playoffs. They finished this season 013 against the Cubs and Pirates, which has done much to guarantee a Cubs versus Pirates wildcard clash.
Pittsburgh swept this weekend without using any of its top three starters Gerrit Cole, Francisco Liriano or A.J. Burnett (who is on the DL). After extrainning wins Friday and Saturday, Pirates manager Clint Hurdle rested his best player, Andrew McCutchen, who was joined on the bench by Jung Ho Kang and Francisco Cervelli. Closer Mark Melancon was unavailable. And the matchup was Jeff Locke versus Matt Harvey. The Pirates had Locke, but this should have been a lock for the Mets.
Instead, the Pirates — with their shifts and shrewd pitching with men on base — are runprevention masters, and the score was 11 through the sixth, and Harvey was done after 103 pitches. Collins, with his own wear and tear after those extrainning losses, had few places to turn beyond Parnell, who walked the leadoff man in the seventh.
Mike Morse then hit a comebacker that should have initiated a double play, but Ruben Tejada did not get to second quickly enough and Parnell’s throw whistled into center. That brought up Gregory Polanco, who had come to the plate 14 times in the series, swung at the first pitch nine times and gotten five firstpitch hits. But rather than seeing if the young Polanco would chase Parnell challenged with a firstpitch fastball that was supposed to bore inside, drifted over the plate and was swatted for a goahead single.
Before the inning was through, the Mets were down 51 (O’Flaherty contributing to the mess), Parnell was booed off the mound, the goodwill and reverie that had been at Citi to begin the weekend had vanished and Alderson’s need to find yet one more pen arm was overt.