Redding, Church, LOB, and Pitching

So in about 10 days Tim Redding will be ready to come back from the DL and join the major league club. The question is where will he be put? He could be the long man out of the pen or the 5th starter. If he goes to the pen who will be cut? Parnell has options so he can be sent to the minors without chance of losing him but he has been good so far and has become one of Manuel's favorites out of the pen. The logical choice would be Casey Fossum who has not done well at all for the major league club and almost cost them Figureoa. However he is the only other lefty out of the pen besides Feliciano. I would cut Fossum and hope he doesn't get claimed off of waivers. The other option would be to cut Livan and have Redding take over as the 5th starter, or cut Fossum and move Livan to the pen to be the long man which could make sense because Livan has been solid the first few innings and then blows up. The Mets could also try to send Ollie to the minors although he would have to accept the assignment. Ollie has had one good start and 3 bad ones. He needs to turn it around.

Ryan Church has been everything the Mets could have asked for this year. He has had the most pressure put on him from a roster POV. From Manuel claiming Murphy would be the regular LF and Church may lose playing time, to singing Sheffield and Willy Mo Pena. Church has responded well by playing his usual good defense, and hitting well (.358 BA). Manuel however continues to bench him against lefties in place of Tatis (who is one of my favorites) and Sheff (who I'm begining to like a little bit more) . I understand the need to have Tatis and Sheff getting at bats but I think Church has showed he should be in the line up everyday. If you want to get Sheff and Church at bats bench Delgado (who could use a day off because he has been slumping lately) and Murphy and put Sheff and Tatis in. I love Church and think he has done everything we could have asked and is the main reason the trade is looking more and more like a success.

The Mets have done a terrible job at hitting with men on base. The Mets should be doing much better than their record shows. They have several players hitting over .300, with Beltran and Castillo being 1 and 2 in hitting in the league. They will eventually start to hit with men on base but it is a serious problem now. They are putting too much pressure on themselves in these situations.

The Mets other problem is their starting rotation. Santana has been absolutely amazing. He is leading the league in ERA and has just been fantastic. Maine had a rough opening to the season but should come back around and has had a solid outing last game. Pelfry pitched good yesterday but was terrible earlier in the year when dealing with his tendonitis. I don't think he'll be as good as the Mets expected this year. I like Big Pelf alot and think he will eventually be a very good number 2 possibly even number 1 pitcher, just not yet. Livan has been ok and actually better than expected. He pitches good early in the games and then falls apart which has also been Ollie's problem. Ollie has been terrible. He pitched one good game against the Padres and has been terrible otherwise, usually beeing good early in the game then falling apart around the fifth inning. I think he will turn it around but his velocity is down and he needs to make some changes because he can't continue pitching like this.

The one truly bright spot is the bullpen. The Mets pen has been spectacular and should continue to be throughout the year. The Mets for the first time in history have a power pen with Parnell, Stokes, K-Rod, and Putz all bringing the mid-90's heat. Putz's velocity has been down a little bit but I think it'll be back soon. Feliciano hasn't been great but he should get a little bit better. Fossum hasn't been good and I would have liked to see Figuroea stay as the long man after his decent start. I'm really glad he came back after the way the Mets screwed up by cutting him for Fossum. I love Figgy and he'll be good as depth for the rotation/bullpen. Redding will be back soon which will strenghten the bullpen. The Mets will definitely be playing better the rest of th year and won't continue playing as poorly has they have.