Our Little Mikey's All Growns Up
It's really an amazing thing that's happened to Mike Pelfrey this season. You almost don't want to talk about it too loudly because, if you're like me, you're still secretly worried it'll all come crashing down, but through the first two months of the season, Mike Pelfrey has been the best pitcher on a staff that includes Johan Santana.
Pelfrey has shown flashes of this before, most notably during a 3-month span in 2008. After the regression we saw last season, however, there was every reason to think those 3 months were the exception to a consistently dispiriting rule.
I'll admit that I was a doubter, but Pelfrey's evolution is something I've never really seen before. I've never seen the Mets promote a highly touted prospect, watch him struggle mightily, watch the team let him struggle mightily, for years, at the major league level, and watch it all become worthwhile as he finally puts it all together.
The operative word in that last sentence is "let". This kind of player development is exactly what the Mets are usually terrible at. A result, principally, of New York's "win now" mindset, the team has shown tremendous impatience with its prospects over the years.
For whatever reason, with Pelfrey they stuck to their guns, and he's rewarding them handsomely now.
Yessir, our little Mikey's all growns up.
* * * * *
What a series.
In the game on Wednesday, Gary Cohen remarked how unlike every other Mets-Phillies series this Mets-Phillies series had been.
For three games the Mets made the Phillies look inept offensively, capitalized on their scoring opportunities, and fielded the ball crisply. Did we steal a few signs along the way? Possibly. (Suck it, Charlie Manuel.)
They played flawless baseball, and today we wake with them 2 games out of first place. Remarkably, it's still possible that they'll end this month where they began it -- in first place.
To do so, they'll need to take their show on the road. At some point, the Mets need to starting winning series' away from Citi Field.
Why not start right now?
- A.F.O.M.G.
Pelfrey has shown flashes of this before, most notably during a 3-month span in 2008. After the regression we saw last season, however, there was every reason to think those 3 months were the exception to a consistently dispiriting rule.
I'll admit that I was a doubter, but Pelfrey's evolution is something I've never really seen before. I've never seen the Mets promote a highly touted prospect, watch him struggle mightily, watch the team let him struggle mightily, for years, at the major league level, and watch it all become worthwhile as he finally puts it all together.
The operative word in that last sentence is "let". This kind of player development is exactly what the Mets are usually terrible at. A result, principally, of New York's "win now" mindset, the team has shown tremendous impatience with its prospects over the years.
For whatever reason, with Pelfrey they stuck to their guns, and he's rewarding them handsomely now.
Yessir, our little Mikey's all growns up.
* * * * *
What a series.
In the game on Wednesday, Gary Cohen remarked how unlike every other Mets-Phillies series this Mets-Phillies series had been.
For three games the Mets made the Phillies look inept offensively, capitalized on their scoring opportunities, and fielded the ball crisply. Did we steal a few signs along the way? Possibly. (Suck it, Charlie Manuel.)
They played flawless baseball, and today we wake with them 2 games out of first place. Remarkably, it's still possible that they'll end this month where they began it -- in first place.
To do so, they'll need to take their show on the road. At some point, the Mets need to starting winning series' away from Citi Field.
Why not start right now?
- A.F.O.M.G.
posted by A Friend of Mr. Glass' at 7:58 AM
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