PHILADELPHIA – For the record, Billy Wagner’s arm is no more weary than Omar Minaya of looking through the same tired pitchers on the waiver wire as his last chance to improve the Mets’ bullpen is down to its final three days.
“The reality is, nobody’s giving you bullpen right now,” the Mets GM said yesterday afternoon. “Nobody is getting through waivers.”
Which is harder, getting a quality reliever through waivers after July 31 or the Mets getting through the seventh and eighth innings?
Last night the Mets began to wave goodbye to a seven-inning Tom Glavine masterpiece and a restored six-game lead in the NL East when Jimmy Rollins, the first batter the usually effective Pedro Feliciano faced to start the eighth, homered to cut their edge to 2-1.
Feliciano got the two lefties that ostensibly he was in there to face, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard, to ground and fly out, respectively. In between, Feliciano walked Pat Burrell, enabling Aaron Heilman to get unlucky when a 45-foot roller by Aaron Rowand stopped inches off the third-base line, scoring pinch runner Shane Victorino to tie a game won, 4-2, by Howard’s two-run, 10th-inning homer off Guillermo Mota.
It was the sixth time in seven appearances Mota, whose ERA is now 6.26, has been scored upon.
While this suggests Willie Randolph should have quit while he was ahead, after Mota worked a miraculous one-two-three ninth, it doesn’t suggest better alternatives.
Scott Schoeneweis (ERA 5.25)? Please. Jorge Sosa, now scored upon in his last three appearances, threw 34 pitches Monday night. Once the Mets went out tamely in the 10th, Wagner would have had to have been on for a minimum two innings to win the game, which would have toasted for tonight and perhaps tomorrow a closer who over the weekend rested a “tired arm” and has been scored upon in his last three outings.
Nope, this bullpen is the one with which Randolph must live. Glavine said he was done at 102 pitches, and even if he wasn’t, if the manager can’t trust his bridge guys, how do you trust the Mets’ chances in the postseason?
The lead is still four. But any leads you might have on any buried relievers might be appreciated by Minaya. A rejuvenated Kyle Farnsworth, with a $5 million contract for next season, cleared waivers and is eligible to be dealt, but the Mets and Yankees do business even less often than Mota pitches a scoreless inning.
Pittsburgh’s Shawn Chacon did not make it through waivers. And the Mets have no interest in Bob Wickman, designated for assignment by the Braves after expressing no interest in pitching in non-save situations.
“We’re not in as good a shape as we would like to be, but we’re a little bit better than most teams,” said Minaya, who last winter re-signed Mota off a couple good months, never mind his pending 60-day drug suspension; signed Schoeneweis; and traded Heath Bell, who suddenly has excelled in San Diego.
Minaya temporarily saved himself by inventing Joe Smith, who, after only one year in the minors, sidearmed his way merrily through three months before vanishing back into the thin air from which he came. Somehow, the Mets’ bullpen ERA is fourth in the league, but you know how much that means now.
“We got guys to get it done,” said Minaya. “Mota, the stuff is there. Schoeneweis will give you good outing sometimes, and sometimes he won’t. Heilman’s done a good job. We have a closer.”
And their fingers crossed on his health.
Smith, who has “regrouped” in Minaya’s words, will be back after Friday, when rosters can be expanded. Philip Humber, Saturday’s likely starter, could be a relief candidate after Pedro Martinez’s return.
“We’ll go with the hot hand,” said Minaya.
It’s not the best situation to be in, headed into September looking for a hot hand. When the clock strikes midnight Friday, it could be tolling for the Mets in October.