Award Season

I know it’s way too early to talk about the end of season awards for 2011, but let me just say this: if Terry Collins can end the season anywhere near .500 with this random collection of trash disguising as a bullpen, then just give him the Manager of the Year right now.

These pitchers can barely make throws from 40 feet much less 60.  And there were two new guys to take the burden off and it didn’t even help.  Twice, easy force plays at the plate were turned into drunken fire drills, and they cost the Mets three runs in a gut punch 7-6 loss to the Rockies.  Wasted were a good game by Daniel Murphy, and a mediocre start by Mike Pelfrey where in Pelfrey’s world right now, mediocre works just the same as spectacular.  But the bullpen torched this one like they’ve torched a small handful this season.  Forget gassed, this ‘pen is just awful.  It’s as if they all bought the Guillermo Mota “My First Blowtorch” by Fisher Price.
 
I for one wonder where Collins’ confidence is at with Tim Byrdak.  One would think that he would have been brought in to face Carlos Gonzalez in the sixth inning, especially when he came into the seventh inning anyway.  Collins also passed up on a chance to bring in Byrdak to face Matt Stairs in a key spot on Saturday night.  So I wonder if Byrdak has earned the trust of the manager to do what he was brought in for: to get key lefties out.  Collins reasoned after the game that he thought Igarashi’s splitter was the best bet to get Gonzalez out in the sixth … and instead he dribbled one to the other side of the shift for a two-run single.

I for one am not sure that Collins would have had a better result if he played by the supposed book.  All these guys save for Jason Isringhausen’s small sample size have been plain awful.  It’ll take more than deft managing to get the most out of this crew.  It’ll probably take enhanced protein shakes, blackmail, and smaller baseballs.

And then there’s Bobby Parnell.  Oh my lord, Robert.  Hit 103 on the radar gun all you want … just not on a tag play at home!!!  That ball meant for Josh Thole on the tag play ended up at the Corona Ice King.  And the one he threw to Troy Tulowitzki ended up in Flushing Bay.  Tell me what Terry Collins is supposed to do when nobody in that bullpen can get a guy out.  Tell me.

“I certainly hope, at this level, if the pressure is too much for them, it’ll be difficult to perform with any success or regularity. So, if they want to play here, pitch here, or do anything else here, they need to understand the little parts of the games have to be there.” –Terry Collins

A little thing like perhaps a 40 foot throw to home plate?  That would be nice.