PORT ST. LUCIE — Mike Pelfrey has 11 days to have his name legally changed to “Lou” so he can fully appreciate the serenade that will be awaiting him on opening day at Citi Field.
Maybe the Mets can bring back Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo as buffers.
Pelfrey’s awful spring actually took a step forward yesterday in that he managed to survive six innings in the Mets’ 6-6 10-inning tie against the Cardinals. He also recovered from a disastrous third, but allowing five runs (four earned) on eight hits against a skeleton St. Louis lineup doesn’t exactly scream “revival,” either.
“I was actually pretty pleased with today,” said Pelfrey, who surrendered eight runs over 2 2/3 innings against Houston in his previous start. “The ball obviously came out even better than it did last time.
“I threw a lot of strikes. I know when I made a couple of pitches that I left up and didn’t execute and they hit it. But I thought I was aggressive throwing strikes and the ball came out of my hand pretty good, so I was pretty pleased with it.”
Coming off a disappointing season in which he was 7-13 with a 4.74 ERA, the right-hander has an 11.49 ERA in four starts this spring. But yesterday was the second straight start in which Pelfrey said he didn’t feel the effects of a high-ankle sprain that had bothered him for much of camp.
“Today is actually the best it’s felt,” Pelfrey said. “That’s a non-issue. If I start missing practices or missing games, then we can talk about it.”
The Mets are likely stuck with Pelfrey. Though he has a non-guaranteed contract and the Mets would be responsible for just a portion of his $5.68 million salary if they were to dump him before spring training concludes, the lack of other options makes that scenario unlikely.
Trading Pelfrey also seems unlikely because his value might be at an all-time low. The most likely scenario is the Mets swallowing hard and hoping they receive something at least resembling mediocrity from Pelfrey until Matt Harvey or Jeurys Familia can perhaps join the party in a few months.
Pelfrey had two strong innings before allowing four runs, three earned, on four hits and a hit batter in the third. Daniel Descalso’s two-run double and Jon Jay’s two RBI single were the big hits. Pelfrey rebounded to allow only one run over the next three innings.
“I think he moved forward a long way, and made great pitches,” manager Terry Collins said. “He pitched inside today the best I’ve seen from him.”
It was a Cardinals lineup that didn’t include big guns Carlos Beltran, Matt Holliday and David Freese. But that didn’t stop the Cardinals from taking a patient approach against Pelfrey.
“I faced them two starts ago and they swung at everything,” Pelfrey said. “I got into the first couple of innings today and I was throwing the fastball and they were taking a little bit, but then when they got guys on they were aggressive and I was still throwing strikes. They weren’t the best location, probably down the middle on some and some were up, and they hit it.”
Pelfrey is experimenting with a new above-the-head windup that was pitching coach Dan Warthen’s idea. The new approach, Pelfrey said, helped give his sinker more bite.
“It was easier to get on top of the sinker,” Pelfrey said. “It’s something we’ll keep working on.”