However, Mr. Marine’s commentary takes a turn when he says that, “Starting pitching is the key. As much as people say that as Reyes goes so go the Mets, I think starting pitching is the big differentiator for the Mets. If Pedro comes back in July and can contribute, and if Oliver Perez pitches like he does against the Yankees, the Mets will have the best starting rotation in the NL. If that doesn't happen it's Maine, Santana, and a cast of characters.
In addition to Perez, Mike Pelfrey is currently a “C”-level character who will need to step up his game to round out this rotation. He has shown signs of brilliance at times this season, but throws an awful lot of pitches before getting any kind of results.
Speaking of characters, Biancardi has more grades to hand out some of the Mets’ characters. He awards a “D” to Delgado and Luis Castillo.
Biancardi notes that Delgado is, “showing extreme signs of aging. Hitting just .230 has gotten Delgado moved down to as far as seventh in the order.
Of Castillo, he states that “After signing a new deal in the off-season, Castillo has yet to live up to the great number-two hitter that Willie sees him as. Knee injuries have also hampered his performance, but right now he's more of a liability than anything else.
Pretty good, Johnny B. Both of these players are definitely in danger of failing. Delgado is nothing like the cleanup hitter the Mets saw in 2006. Castillo may prove to be the bigger failure of the two, as the Mets will have to suffer through another three and three-quarter seasons of him being in and out of the lineup, taking himself out of games, and not being able to hit the ball more than 120 feet.
Oh, but Mr. Biancardi is not through yet. He has one more grade to hand out. It is a big, fat “F” to Aaron Heilman.
Johnny B. notes that, “With a 5.82 earned run average, and twelve walks in twenty-one and two-thirds innings, Heilman has been the epitome of a flop, so much to the point where he cannot be used in a close game. One has to wonder if he can turn his season around, but at this point it's looking like a pretty low possibility.
Other “Fs” go to the demoted and the departed: Nelson Figueroa, Jorge Sosa, and Brady Clark.
The bench players (including Pagan) can get by with incompletes for now, along with Matt Wise and Duaner Sanchez. However if those two “progress” at their current rates, they can expect “Ds” at the mid-term.
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