2010 Mets Player Outlook: Mike Pelfrey

For Mets fans Mike Pelfrey has been a very interesting player to watch over the years. Since he came up in 2006 we’ve seen him grow and become a major league pitcher. Since he came up, Pelfrey has been a pitcher the Mets thought to be a major part of the rotation in the future.

However, until the 2008 season, Pelfrey didn’t look like he was going to be anything. In 2007 he pitched in 15 games and had a 5.57 ERA.

In the 2008 season he got the chance to be a full time starter and pitched fantastic. He threw over 200 innings, collected 13 wins, had 2 complete games and an ERA of 3.72.

Going into the 2009 season the team was expecting a similar performance from him. This turned out to not be the case. Pelfrey struggled in 2009, pitching in a staff that seemed to change every week due to injuries. He was the only starting pitcher for the Mets to stay relatively healthy the whole season or not be traded. Towards the end of the year he was the only recognizable name in the rotation and was considered to be our “ace”. Pelfrey struggled in 2009 pitching 184.1 innings, 10 wins and an ERA of 5.03.

For some Mets fan this can be very disheartening but there are many logical reasons for Pelfrey having this down year.

For one, people have to remember Pelfrey is still a young pitcher. Though it feels like he has been around for a while, this was only his second full season pitching for the Mets. For most pitchers, their season after their first full season is often a down year. Pitchers often struggle in their second full season for many reasons. For one, their arms might not be use to that much throwing. In the minors they wouldn’t never come close to 200 innings pitched in one year. Now they are accepted to do that every year and it could be taxing at first for some pitchers.

Second reason is that hitters have seen him now. They know what he throws, he hasn’t had time to adjust to all of these hitters.

Another reason for the possible down year is that he was the only starting pitcher to start on the opening day roster and finish on the roster when the season ended. Towards the end of the season Pelfrey was the pitcher the Mets could actually count on. This put pressure on him to perform well, as well as being the leader of a major league rotation, a task that he is not near capable of.

View our predictions of Pelfrey at Mets Paradise!