On May 20th of 2010, my co-founder, Jay Robotham and I announced the official launch of MetsZilla. I will never forget our first post, it was titled “Do the Mets have an ‘Ace’ up their sleeve,” and to our surprise, it was linked by MetsBlog’s Michael Baron here. In that post, Jay stated the following about who we believed was the future ‘ace’ of the Mets, Mike Pelfrey:
There’s something about a guy yelling at a batter to get back in the box as he did when Chase Utley was taking his time or asking for the ball to close out a 20 inning marathon game that speaks to his passion and leadership, two prerequisites for being crowned an ace. Mike Pelfrey is still mastering his craft , but the intangibles, the things that can’t be taught, are inherent to him and he is undoubtedly an ace in the making. It’s my belief that come 2011 there will be little doubt as to who is the Mets #1 starter, but that’s not because I expect Johan to regain his 2008 form, rather I envision Pelfrey taking that next step forward.”
What a difference a year makes. Mike ended his 2010 campaign with 15 wins and 3.67 ERA leaving many fans excited about watching #34 take yet, another step towards becoming the top end of a rotation guy most fans envisioned he would bed be. However, the 27-year-old former first round pick mustered just seven wins for the Mets in 2011 while boasting a putrid 4.74 ERA. I believe it is safe to say Pelfrey failed to reach fan, blogger and even organizational expectations, having some fans hoping the Mets cut ties with the right hander this off-season.
So now the question becomes, what do the Mets do with Mike Pelfrey? The 6’7″ starter is eligible for arbitration and would surely see an increase in his $3.925 million salary. According to MLB Trade Rumors his projected increase would be upwards of $6 million. I know what your thinking because I thought it too, that’s almost $1 million a win; there has to be a better bargain out there than that. Here’s the thing, while I totally agree with most fans in that Pelfrey has been one of the biggest disappointments as well as one of the most frustrating players to watch I do believe the Mets should bring him back for 2012.
My reasoning behind this is simple. The one thing Pelfrey has provided the Mets with over his tenure, besides heartburn, is an ability to stay healthy while giving the club a high number of inning pitched each season; which should not go over looked.
Over the last four seasons Mike has made no less than 31 starts while tossing close to 200 innings pitched in each of those season and even eclipsing the 200+ IP plateau twice:
Knowing that every fifth day you have a durable starter who can go out there and toss innings — the quality of those inning not with standing — has, in itself, become valuable in Major League Baseball and something that is not easily replacable. In 2011 less than 40 starters hit the 200 innings mark and in 2010, Mike was one of 44 starters to do so. As bad as Pelfrey was in 2011, there is still potential. In four seasons as a starter Mike has split the bill giving the Mets two seasons of a sub 4 ERA. Take away the pressure of being the clubs ‘ace’ — which he was dubbed in January of 2011 by Mets manager Terry Collins — and maybe, just maybe, Pelf can return to that form:
The bottom line here is Pelfrey may never become the ‘ace’ we envisioned he would be back in May of 2010. At this point is his career I am ok with that. With now lowered expectations from much of the clubs fan base , Big Pelf can servestill as a key cog at the back end of the Mets 2012 rotation. With help on the distant horizon in players such as Zack Wheeler, Matt Harvey, and Juerys Familia, keeping Pelf around for one more year, at least for this Mets blogger, is not a horrible idea.
Original Story:
