Lefty Watch: Feliciano or Bust?
By Howard Megdal ~ March 18th, 2010. Filed under: Howard Megdal, New York Mets.
So I actually feel a bit responsible for Pedro Feliciano’s injury tonight, as I mentioned on this week’s radio show that one of the few things that went right in 2009 for the Mets was Feliciano staying healthy.
Well, it appears at first that Feliciano will be just fine. Of course, this being the Mets, I’ll need to see Feliciano back and pitching well before I assume that is true.
But if something were to happen to Perpetual Pedro, who do the Mets have in reserve? Keep in mind, Feliciano, in his career, has allowed lefties to hit .214/.279/.302.
The other lefty relievers in camp with the Mets?
Pat Misch .286/.340/.458
Travis Blackley .250/.400/.444
Bobby Livingston .345/.419/.564
Arturo Lopez .400/.571/.400
Eric Niesen N/A
Hisanori Takahashi N/A
Obviously, many of these pitchers have very few at-bats against lefties. But none of them have excelled in their limited opportunities against lefties, and even if they had, the lack of any track record beyond a small sample size would be a problem itself.
Getting a second lefty specialist need not have cost much. Ron Mahay and his career .233/.308/.395 mark against lefties is freely available. Brian Shouse and his career .213/.262/.330 line against lefties was had by the Red Sox on a minor league deal. Even a top-of-the-line, crossover lefty (like Feliciano), Darren Oliver, cost just $3.5 million on a one-year deal.
This is not to say the Mets should have paid too much for a reliever, or the bigger crime, signed the notoriously inconsistent arms to multi-year contracts. But surely a Plan B for Pedro Feliciano, in a division with the Phillies (and lefty hitters across baseball) should be considered.
It’s not too late; hopefully this scare with Feliciano is just that, but can serve as a reminder to the Mets that man is not built to live perpetually.
March 19th, 2010 at 10:42 pm
Doesn’t matter Jerry not going to be happy until Felicano’s arm ends up in the catcher’s mitt with the ball.