PORT ST. LUCIE — Mike Pel frey better start finding answers to his problems. Here’s a tip. Don’t be afraid to pitch inside.
The Cardinals bashed Pelfrey all over Digital Domain Park yesterday. Pelfrey should be better than he is showing and a big part of his problem is that he does not pitch inside nearly enough.
For hitters, it’s all a day at the beach. They sit and wait for their pitch and hammer it. “He’s really got to start pitching inside,” noted one longtime scout.
Big Pelf has been more like a Big Elf on the mound. After the beat down, Pelfrey said he is well aware of that problem and promised he will take care of it.
The Mets brain trust sitting seven rows behind home plate — general manager Omar Minaya and other front office personnel, including John Ricco, Sandy Johnson, Wayne Krivsky and Bryan Lambe — all got a perfect view of the 12 hits, six runs and three home runs Pelfrey surrendered over 5 2/3 innings in the 10-5 thrashing by the Cardinals, including a massive home run to center by Albert Pujols.
Pujols was 3-for-3 against Pelfrey with a double, single and the home run and he stole second standing up in the third against the right-hander, who has issues with men on base.
When Pelfrey came to the plate in the bottom of the fifth, after surrendering that bomb to Pujols and trailing 5-2, he was all smiles as he chatted with home plate umpire Ed Rapuano. Yes, I understand that this is only spring training, but somehow I just couldn’t picture Andy Pettitte being that jovial at that point.
So much of pitching is mental toughness and maybe that is the real “secondary” pitch Pelfrey has to add to his arsenal to be able to reach his potential. After the game, Pelfrey said: “I’m not too worried about it, I actually felt pretty good. The secondary stuff I thought was good. I got the pitch count up. It was a good day.”
It was not a good day for the Mets fans watching. One fan came up to me with a disgusted look and asked: “What do you think, 65 or 70 wins?”
So much is hanging on the secondary starters in the rotation. Pelfrey’s spring ERA sits at 7.97. John Maine is 7.94 and Ollie Perez owns a sparkling 5.87 ERA. Reds right-hander Bronson Arroyo is getting better looking every day.
All those numbers will not mean one thing come Opening Day, but they mean something today. Remember, this was supposed to be Camp Competition, not just Camp Get Your Work In.
Later, when I asked Pelfrey about the need to pitch inside more, he admitted that’s something he didn’t do on this day, but that he usually does throw inside.
“If anything it’s always been that I throw inside too much,” Pelfrey said. “I didn’t pitch inside enough today, I noticed that, but in a sense we’re trying to work on getting that four-seamer away. When crunch time comes, I’m going to get a ground ball or a double play. I have that ability that I can get that sinker to get that double play.”
Pelfrey said hitters should not get too comfortable with him when the season starts.
“There were guys who were comfortable with leaning out over the plate,” Pelfrey said of the Cardinals. “That alone tells me, ‘Hey I need to start pitching in.’ I’ll get back to pounding the strike zone inside and that’s going to open up everything. I understand about pitching in and to me, that’s easy.”
Fair enough. It’s easy. And he said the splitter will make him more effective.
“It’ll be good,” he promised.
It will be better when he gets the ball down, takes charge of the inner half. Pelfrey doesn’t have to act like Bob Gibson out there but pitching is a lot more than throwing a baseball. He’s coming off a season when he was 10-12 with a 5.03 ERA.
The internship is over.