Yesterday, the Mets triumphed over the Phillies in dramatic fashion.
They took home a 4-3, victory in the 12th inning and looked like the Mets of 2006. With one exception:Mets setup man Aaron Heilman.
Heilman relieved Pedro Feliciano in the eighth, and promptly gave up a bomb to Ryan Howard which proceeded to blow the lead. This is a scene that Heilman always seems to produce in the mind of Mets fans.
Except this time the Mets pulled out a win.
This is the second time this season that Heilman has shown the Mets an unseemly performance, and this begs the question: Is the Mets bullpen strong enough?
Going into the season, Heilman was viewed as the Mets main reliever and savior without Duaner Sanchez.
But so far, he has been nothing close. Now the Mets pen consists of Jorge Sosa, who has been a good spot starter and long reliever; Joe Smith, who has shown mixed performances; and Scott Schoenweis, who last year pitched well below standard.
They also have the always-strong Billy Wagner, Carlos Muniz, and possibly Carlos Villanueva.
Now the probability of all of these guys' pitching being strong all year is unlikely. if a few start to falter, or if injury occurs, overworking of the others could force the whole thing to collapse in on itself.
Of course in an ideal situation, this wouldn't happen. But it happened last year, and cost the Mets a playoff berth.
For the Mets to win this year, they will need consistent performance from Reyes, Wright, and Beltran. They need to bench players like Pagan.
The Mets also need consistency from the starters, mainly Santana now that Pedro is gone for an unknown amount of time, and the relief, which would require Heilman to get his act together and keep the ball down.
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