PORT ST. LUCIE – Rick Peterson sensed John Maine was fighting his confidence, yet again, and so he sat Maine down in the Budweiser Hot Seat. No, really, this is what he did, or at least the Mets’ version of the ESPN gimmick.
This was about midseason last year at Shea Stadium, and the Mets pitching coach told Maine to act as if he were sitting in the hot seat. Peterson then wrote pitchers’ names on a blackboard along with their stats and asked Maine to describe their place in a rotation.
Jake Peavy. Top of the rotation starter. John Smoltz. Top of the rotation starter. Tim Hudson. Top of the rotation starter.
Then Peterson wrote Maine’s name and numbers, and the righty paused. Peterson pointed out that the numbers were similar.
“Why can’t this be you?” he asked. “Why can’t you be a top of the rotation starter?”
“Yes, it mattered,” Maine said yesterday, remembering the faux hot seat. “I learned I needed a different mindset. At times I still do battle [for confidence]. That is something I am still learning. I am not in the same class as Peavy. But I feel I can get guys out. I find it [losing confidence] happening less and less. I think more about making the right pitch rather than worrying about a double in the gap.”
Maine’s gradual graduation is a large issue around the Mets, and not just for this season. The rotation could be the Mets’ strength in 2008. Yet there is a tenuous nature revolving around the health of Pedro Martinez and Orlando Hernandez, and consistency issues with Oliver Perez and Mike Pelfrey.
The sure thing is Johan Santana. But whom do you feel next best about? If the No. 2 starter is the man you want pitching a big game if everyone is healthy, then Martinez is No. 2 to Santana’s ace. But if the No. 2 starter is the guy you expect to pitch the second most innings and win the second most games, then Maine projects as that.
In fact, if Maine needs any further injections of confidence, he should know there is rising belief all around him. Both GM Omar Minaya and new catcher Brian Schneider predicted 20 wins are possible for Maine this year. And Maine encouraged enthusiasm yesterday with four no-hit innings against the Astros, during which his 91-95 mph fastball had its familiar hard-to-center riding action, his slider had swing-and-miss bite and his command was excellent (36 strikes in 54 pitches).
“He’s right on the cusp,” Peterson said. “But John Maine has to repeat himself. To be a top-of-the-rotation guy, you have to have 30-plus starts every year. And a top-of-the-rotation guy has to see himself as one of those guys. Initially, John Maine did not see himself going into the phone booth, putting on a cape and flying.”
Should he? Since May 2, 2006, his first start as a Met, Maine has a better winning percentage than Peavy (.583 to .493), a better ERA than Hudson (3.81 to 4.04) and a better batting average against than Smoltz (.228 to .248).
With the Mets facing elimination in the 2006 NLCS, Maine won Game 6 with 51/3 shutout innings. And when the Mets won just one of their final seven games last season, Maine was the winning pitcher, throwing 72/3 no-hit innings on the next-to-last-day of the schedule to complete a 15-10 campaign.
He arrived in camp this year having bulked to 215 pounds, but having kept his body fat to nine percent. Of Maine’s work ethic, Peterson said, “Whatever the price it takes to be successful, John Maine will overpay it.”
That is a positive harbinger for a pitcher who will not turn 27 until May, a pitcher central to the Mets’ future. Martinez, Hernandez and Perez are in contractual walk years. For 2009, the Mets are certain to have just Santana, Maine and Pelfrey. So as much as the Mets are invested in 2008 – emotionally and financially – they still recognize how badly they need Maine to validate his top-of-the-rotation ticket as the organization heads toward Citi Field.
Either Maine will prove capable of being a No. 2-type starter or else the Mets’ hot seat is going to get crowded.