Marty Noble penned an article last night with a headline that has since changed. When published, it read that Pedro Feliciano had “landed” the 8th inning job with the Mets. Today it reads that Feliciano is “eyeing” that role.
Whether Perpetual Pedro lands that role or not, another nugget caught my eye (and James’ over at Amazin’ Avenue) in terms of the bullpen.
Noble notes that the Mets seem to be high on pitcher Raul Valdes.
If you just said “Who?” out loud to yourself, you’re not alone. Just take a look at his Baseball-Reference page.
But, for the sake of argument, let’s say Valdes makes the Mets and Feliciano is tabbed as the set-up man. Where does that leave the bullpen?
Well, with the report that both Sean Green and Bobby Parnell will start the season in Triple-A, that likely leaves these players in the Mets bullpen come Opening Day (expecting Jon Niese is the 5th starter):
- Francisco Rodriguez
- Pedro Feliciano
- Ryota Igarashi
- Hisanori Takahashi
- Raul Valdes
- Fernando Nieve
- Nelson Figueroa
The retaining of Takahashi, Nieve and Figueroa could benefit the team as John Maine continues his struggles of staying on the mound past four or five innings. These pitchers can all toss multiple innings without batting an eye. This, with the Mets current rotation question marks, would be a smart and savvy move by the front office to help keep the rotation fresh and (with luck) keep the team winning.
This also bumps young-gun Jenrry Mejia to Triple-A and keeps rehabbing Kiko Calero and Kelvim Escobar in extended Spring Training and/or heading to Buffalo.
With what the Mets would deem five, if not more, major-league ready arms ready to fill in the bullpen come injuries or ineffectiveness, the Mets have a large surplus of bullpen arms ready to fill in.