Tim Redding seems to be struggling

In his first appearance in spring, Tim Redding got rocked by the University of Michigan. His second time around, last night, he got trounced by the Florida Marlins.

Redding allowed nine runs on eight hits, including three home runs, in only two innings of work. Adding that to his 1-3 of an inning and five runs against U of M, he's given up 14 runs in 2 1-3 innings. He now has an ERA of 40.50.

Still, though, Redding will make the Mets. All of his $2.5 million contract is guaranteed so there is no way the team can cut him and save money. His early performances have seemingly knocked him out of major contention for the fifth spot in the rotation. I think he'll be the long man in the bullpen.

Here's a pretty telling little exchange, via David Lennon:

When Redding was brought up, Manuel said, "Ooooo," then looked under his desk, adding, "Let me find something I can say about Tim Redding."

Once the laughter stopped, Manuel straightened back up. "It's still relatively early in spring training," he said. "He's a veteran pitcher ... he'll get better."

He likely will get better (because you can't be that bad for that long, right?) and will fit in nicely in the bullpen.

This opens up the door for Jon Niese, Freddy Garcia and Bobby Parnell for the possible fifth spot in the rotation.