Yesterday seemed to reaffirm the cloud over the Mets organization, as when the Mets get close to competing, something terrible occurs. Last season, it was Matt Harvey who went down with an injury that would put him on the shelf for the year, and this season the Mets have experienced injuries to Josh Edgin and Zack Wheeler. The cloud came drifting over the organization yesterday in the late afternoon, as it was announced that Jenrry Mejia would be suspended 80 games for violating Major League Baseball’s drug policy, as stanozolol was found in his system. Even though Mejia was on the disabled list, this suspension hurts the bullpen in the long run, as the Mets now have to restructure the roles of each reliever. However, there is no reason to worry about the bullpen, because it is déjà vu all over again for the Mets.
This situation is nothing new for Terry Collins and his coaching staff. Last season, the Mets began the season with plenty of veterans in the bullpen, such as Kyle Farnsworth, John Lannan, and Jose Valverde. Although Farnsworth posted a 3.18 ERA, we remember the debacle with him being upset about the decision of sending him to the minors, so the Mets did not feel confident in Farnsworth. The story of Lannan would have been heartwarming if it worked out, as he grew up in New York, attending Chaminade High School and Sienna College. While pitching in five games, Lannan had a 15.75 ERA and let up three homers in four innings. The Mets ended up out-righting Lannan and calling up Daisuke Matsuzaka. Lastly, Valverde seemed to be a decent signing, as he had experience closing games and pitching in big and meaningful games. Papa Grande pitched to a 5.56 ERA over a 21 game span, and was sent away from the Mets. These situations show that we do not know what to expect from a reliever, but as long as adjustments are made, the team can salvage what is left in the bullpen.
Sandy Alderson had time with the left-handed reliever situation this season, as Edgin’s injury happened fairly early in Spring Training. Jerry Blevins should be a solid acquisition, as he has had successful years in Oakland, and strikes out plenty of hitters. The same goes for Alex Torres, as he posted a 1.71 ERA in 2013 for the Tampa Bay Rays. Now the past does not indicate what will happen in the future, but these two pitchers, plus Sean Gilmartin should make for a solid lefty relief core.
Jeurys Familia had a phenomenal 2014, and entered this season as the setup man. With Mejia out, Terry Collins has announced that Familia will be the closer. Even though we should have confidence in Familia, he had a 5.59 ERA in Spring Training, as opposing hitters hit .356 off of him. This is only Spring training, and it is still early in the season, but Familia should rebound soon enough and experience success.
Rafael Montero could be similar to both Familia and Mejia as all three were starters at some point in their career, and made the transition to the bullpen. The Mets do not seem fully settled on Montero in the bullpen for the long-term, but due to their high volume of starting pitchers, Montero will be pitching out of the pen. It would not be surprising to see him flourish, as he is known for throwing strikes, and he has the fastball/slider combination that most relievers feature. He will be a valuable piece in the bullpen, and should serve as more than a long reliever.
The main reason why we should not be dreading the bullpen over the course of the season is the return of Bobby Parnell. It seemed that the Mets found their closer of the future in 2012, as Parnell posted 7 saves with a 2.49 ERA. Not too bad for the flame throwing right-handed reliever. It is definitely a fair point to wonder what the Mets will get out of Parnell, but we have seen successful comebacks from players who underwent Tommy John surgery, and there is a track record of success from the player. If we get the old Parnell back, we have our closer, pushing Familia back to his setup role. This should create order in the bullpen while producing the needed results.
The season is still young, and things may look dreary for the Mets bullpen, but it seemed even worse last season, and last season the bullpen finished eighth in ERA with 3.14 while converting 42 saves. Considering Parnell was injured the first week of the season, the lack of production from the veterans and the scrambling to find roles for each pitcher left Terry Collins wondering what to do last season. The Mejia suspension is going to cause problems for the Mets bullpen, but there is no need to worry yet, as the Mets have been in this predicament before, and came out quite nicely once things settled down.
I agree with the thesis, and the reality that Mejia had a 1.48 WHIP last year — there’s no guarantee he was going to be great all year.
BTW, today, Game 6, The Flores Experiment gets an up arrow.
Cudos to Terry for sending him out there again.
He went out there James because Murphy had tightness. Had Murphy been fine, Flores is on the bench. However, I was impressed to see him start yesterday after a tough Friday night. That actually impressed me enough to make a note of it.
I am worried about the bullpen. The Mets are going to rely on Montero a lot to get to Familia in the 9th. Montero has to respond like Familia and Mejia did in 2014. That leaves Carlos Torres or Buddy Carlyle for the 7th. Carlos Torres is more of a middle reliever than a set up man. Blevins worked well today because the Braves were lefty loaded but on most days TC will have him pitch to one batter and out. That will also stress the bullpen. Alex Torres, Gilmartin and Goedell are middle relievers. Parnell and Black are responding back from injury so they shouldn’t be counted on until May when this 31 game eastern division streak is concluded. This bullpen really depends on Montero and Carlos Torres and if they can pick up their game. I think most nights they will be successful but a couple extra games will slip away.
There were 30 relievers with better ERA’s, 52 with a better FIP, and 47 with a better fWAR than Familia. Really James, is that phenomenal?
You made a lot of great points Metsense. I think Montero is going to be a solid reliever going forward. I would rather see him in the rotation, but as of now he’s in the bullpen. As you stated, we saw Familia and Mejia become solid relievers last year, so why not Montero?
I’d like to see Blevins utilized against right-handed hitters more, because that will help the bullpen a tremendous amount. Once Black and Parnell come back, they are going to contribute, although we do not know to what extent.
Bullpens are always a mystery, and I think the Mets pen can be successful for this first month even with the injury and suspension, hopefully they close more games than not.
Mejia has to put on the IL. Incompetent or Idiotic List. MLB had already suspended 3 pitchers in the past 15 days for the same banned substance which is used by body builders. Now if you’re taking an illegal substance wouldn’t it be a smart idea to know how long it stays in your system? His I don’t have a clue how I got it is embarrassing and just plain stupid. MLB investigators are going to question him. it’s too much of a coincidence that 4 players from 4 different teams get suspended for using the same substance. Who’s next? By mid season when he returns will the Mets look to trade him? Does it mean that Parnell get’s an extension? Yes we are fortunate that the pen is in much better shape than it has been in previous years. So let’s move on and hope no other Met is involved and this doesn’t become another Biogenesis..
I never understood how players take something and they claim not to know they took it. Even if someone is telling you to take a supplement, why are the players not questioning what it contains? Trading Mejia seems unlikely, as teams may steer away from him because of the suspension. Hopefully this is a one-time thing, and the Mets and Mejia can move on.
A month ago we had more pitchers than we knew what to do with.