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Observations on the first half


Allstarjim

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Pelfrey - I watched him pitch his last start against the Giants, and even though he only allowed 2 runs, many of his outs were on hard hit balls, and he allowed 8 hits, 2 walks in 6 innings. For the most part, he was lucky to escape more damage. The Giants are not an exceptional hitting team, either, especially without Posey. Watching him pitch, he could not locate the breaking ball very well. I think the guy has a good fastball, but when hitters can sit on that pitch in the zone, the only pitch he really throws consistently for strikes, they can hit him hard, and they do plenty of that.

 

At this point I don't see this guy as a front of rotation starter. In fact, I think right now, even without Johan, I feel more comfortable with Niese, Dickey, Gee, and even Capuano on the mound. I'm positive that if and when Johan comes back, it's not going to push Pelf out of the rotation, but honestly expecting Pelfrey to be more than a fourth or fifth starter on this team is foolhardy. He should be a Joe Blanton innings eater type.

 

Looking to the future, I hope to see Johan leading a starting five that includes Dillon Gee (who's really impressed me with his control), R.A. Dickey, and hopefully Jennry Mejia, to go with Pelfrey on the back end. Matt Harvey was recently promoted to AA and we'll have to see, he's gotten off to a rocky start but I have to believe he's very promising and in the Mets future plans perhaps as early as late next year or 2013.

 

The bullpen has been a pleasant surprise. Kudos to Alderson for getting guys in here that can pitch. The Beato rule 5 pick was tremendous. Getting Isringhausen was a good move. Byrdak has done a good job as a lefty specialist, and D.J. Carrasco has provided some good innings. There's no one in this bullpen that raises my blood pressure when he gets on the mound the way Heilman and Billy Wagner used to do. Parnell looks like the closer of the future. His fastball is simply over powering. And even K-Rod, despite a few slip ups, has been pretty good.

 

The injuries we've suffered has been a blessing in disguise. Particularly because of Daniel Murphy and Justin Turner. They are finds. Murphy can flat out rake and Turner has been so clutch and always seems to have good at bats. When Wright and Davis come back, I wouldn't mind seeing a platoon at 2B between Murphy and Turner, even though Murph also hits lefties pretty decent. Tejada has also done well, but I see him still as a defensive sub/middle infield depth in the future.

 

But the best thing about this year is that we have finally found ourselves a legit, starting, offensive second baseman for the future in Daniel Murphy. He has been the best hitter on this team outside of Reyes in the first half.

 

This was supposed to be a breakout year for Ike Davis, though. He was showing he belongs and he's going to be a great power hitter for us for a long time. If we had a park like the Phillies do, I would say he would be a perennial contender for leading the league in homeruns. But I think he's so talented, he'll be a 30/100 guy and hit around .300 for a long time.

 

When all the horses are healthy, and if we can resign Reyes, we will have a helluva infield with Davis, Murphy, Reyes, and Wright.

 

Paulino has also been great behind the plate, and even Bay is starting to pick it up lately. It's been a long time, but I think this team is going to make a big push for the playoffs next year, as long as we resign Reyes and we can get a lot luckier in the health department.

 

One big question is what's going to happen with Beltran in the second half. RF could be a position that could see some change in the 2nd half going into next year. I'm comfortable with Pagan and Bay going forward at the other spots. If Lucas Duda could just start to hit major league pitching, he could be a good player on this team, and RF could be his home for a long time here. He has a lot of power although he hasn't shown it at the big league level. Pridie is a player, too, but I think he projects better at CF, and Pagan is going to hold that spot down for awhile. I'm not giving up on F-Mart yet, but I think Duda could really be a player if he gets out of this slump.

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