Good game by Mike Pelfrey, but the Mets organization has fallen into a pitch count trap thats a perscription for losing. The Mets organization is obsessed with protecting their investments and train their starters to go 100 pitches and 5 to 6 innings. Thats not enough. They need to make finishing a priority. Aside from Johan Santana, no Mets starter is capable of getting a complete game. Perhaps they should get Ron Darling (37 lifetime CG ) and Bobby Ojeda (41 CG) out of the the TV booth to teach the organization how to get their starters to get further into the game. The guy who’s autograph the Mets wanted to erase last week – Doc Gooden had 68 complete games in his lifetime.

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Maybe.

But what did everyone expect? When executives became obsessed with wearing out starters, teams began carrying more pitchers on there staffs. During the late 80′s it wasn’t unusual for staffs to be carrying nine pitchers for periods, with the norm being ten. Then the number became eleven or twelve. And now its not surprising to see teams carrying 13 pitchers on 25 man rosters.

The game has changed subtly in the last 20 years. We’ve seen the complete game become rare. Not only is it not allowed in the minor leagues, guidelines are in place which limit pitch counts early in the season to 75, forcing managers to use more relievers. The policy is carrying over to the major league level as unintentional ceilings are embedded into a starters training early in career. Hence the five inning quality start in the minds of many.

In golf, it might be similar to the conditioning that goes into playing 18 holes. If young golfers were conditioned to go 12 holes, it would be quite a shock to go the extra three holes.

But this seems to be the way that baseball has chosen to go in protecting its best young pitchers with limits. Monetary investments in talent have advanced, and the precaution is understandable.

Nonetheless, for Mets starters 100 pitches are going to have to get more than 15 outs. Better command and more first pitch strikes please. Getting only five innings means the club will have to use 4 relievers, with JJ Putz and Francisco Rodriguez being limited to an inning.

Last night playing a run down, Jerry Manuel opted to attempt to get a run or more by forcing the Marlins to pitch to Gary Sheffield with a runner in scoring position or Jose Reyes with 2 on. It was the smart thing to do at this point in the game and season. It was a vary good time to use the power the Mets had on the bench.

Maine pitched well and only faced 18 hitters in five innings. I’ll take that every time. His pitch count – eighty three was solid as well. With the lead or playing at home, Maine might have stayed for another 4 or 5 outs which would have gotten the club into the 7th. Its the kind of start that they will look for from Livan Hernandez tonight.

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1. The rotation is consistent. If the Club uses the starters they are leaving camp with the majority of the season, it will be similar to the 1986 staff of Doc Gooden, Rick Aguilera, Bobby Ojeda, Ron Darling and Sid Fernandez. For this year’s Mets it means staying healthy, too. But today questions need to be answered about Oliver Perez, John Maine and Mike Pelfrey. It can happen though.

2. The outfield defense will need to hold up at home. If we find that this is happening, it will lilley mean that other things are going well, too.

3. The bullpen lives up to advance billing. Its a potential place of dominance.

4. David Wright, Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran need to play as if they are in the prime of their careers.

The first item is the one that gives me pause on opening day and may be the real key to the season with the other three more easy to obtain. If the starting five produce, the Mets can get back to the World Series and indeed win beacuse of the pitching depth that they have.

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Numerous Mets bloggers have weighed in and said that the Mets do not need 3 catchers. Wrong. Having only two is the same as having one. People over reacted when Robinson Cancel took 3rd base Sunday in Houston. Bad decision on his part, but it has nothing to do with the roster. All clubs – not just the Mets carry 12 to 13 pitchers. Way too many. They’ve been trying to protect starters arms in the minors and the Mets have been wrong about the way they use their bullpen. Its no wonder they’ve used up Aaron Heilman to keep starters at 100 pitches. They have to go more as Keith Hernandez said the other night.

UPDATE: In Metsblog, Joe Janish has more.

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