Well the Mets ended their four game losing streak last night with Johan Santana on the mound. He gave them seven solid innings of work, and the bullpen managed not to blow the lead in their two innings of work.
The Mets are 14-13 this year despite having one of the worst team ERA’s in the league. They are currently ranked 24th in the league with a 4.48 team ERA. Their starter’s ERA is 4.34, 23rd in the league, and their bullpen’s ERA 4.83, 28th in the league. They also have a -30 run differential, which is second worse in the league. When you look at how bad their pitching has been, it’s kind of amazing that they are a game above .500.
Yesterday the Mets sent down the rarely used Jordany Valdespin to bring up some bullpen help in D.J. Carrasco. He suffered an ankle injury which forced him to miss all of Spring Training but has come back from the injury nicely in the minors. In nine innings of work he’s given up one run on three hits, one walk, and five strikeouts.
After signing a two year deal last year, Carrasco struggled for the Mets, posting a 6.02 ERA in 49.1 innings. The Mets are hoping he’ll be able to bounce back and provide some much needed bullpen help. Carrasco also has the ability to start games, and with Miguel Batista in the rotation now, he’s spot should be available after his next start. Or the Mets could use the two for some sort of disastrous combination.
Speaking of bullpen, Bobby Parnell is drawing interest from teams. Parnell is one of the few members of the bullpen who is performing well. Trading him would create a hole in the struggling bullpen, so it wouldn’t be the smartest move for the Mets unless they got some bullpen arms in the return.
The Mets bullpen is definitely a problem right now. I don’t think Carrasco will bring any relief to the problems, but you never know. Right now the Mets can’t afford to lose Parnell, so trading him, unless it is a great deal, should be out of the question.
Given all the bullpen’s struggles they do have good arms. I think the bullpen woes steam from all of arms falling into a funk at the same time. Before the season started I saw the bullpen as the strength of the team and they started out the year proving me right. Guys like Jon Rauch, Ramon Ramirez, and Tim Byrdak will be fine. I really like Manny Acosta and feel like he is just going through a bad stretch right now.
This team’s pitching is better than what they are showing right now. Eventually they will bounce back, but for now it’s ugly to watch.