Mike Pelfrey hasn’t done anything differently since his last start, a two-inning disaster during which he gave up seven runs to the Phillies.
But he’s still confident he’s going to get different results.
“I know I need to be better, but I’m still going to do what’s worked for me in the past,” said the Mets right-hander, who gets the start tonight in the opening game of a four-game series against the Rockies at Citi Field.
“I just have to rely on my fastball and splitter, which I didn’t do the first two times out.”
R.A. Dickey, charting Pelfrey’s pitches in his previous start, noticed that Pelfrey threw first-pitch fastballs to just six of the 18 batters he faced.
“I got away from my fastball for some reason and didn’t throw the splitter enough,” Pelfrey said.
“I got away from what has made me successful. I know I need to be better than I have been, and there’s no better time than [tonight].”
That’s especially true since both he and Jon Niese have struggled at the top of the rotation, while Chris Young and Chris Capuano have been better than expected.
With the toll the early season has taken on the Mets’ bullpen, the team needs Pelfrey to perform like he did for long stretches a year ago, when he won 15 games and gave them the belief he was capable of leading a staff.
“If I get beat, I have no problem walking off the field if I can say they beat my best stuff,” Pelfrey said.
“But that isn’t what’s happening. No matter what the scouting reports say about hitters, I’ve gotta use my strengths. So if they’re fastball hitters, I still have to trust my fastball, because they’re probably good enough to hit my curve and slider.”
So far this season, batters have definitely been good enough against Pelfrey, who is 0-1 with a 15.63 ERA.