Mike Pelfrey – who’ll start today’s game for the Mets vs. Washington – has tantalized fans with his talent and infuriated them with his inconsistency. They can only hope they get an reprisal of his previous start, when pitching coach Rick Peterson said Pelfrey executed more quality pitches than he had in his whole career.
Both Peterson and Willie Randolph say it has nothing to do with who is catching the 24-year-old, and little to do with shelving his wayward two-seam fastball. They say it has everything to do with a young pitcher growing up, finally finding the confidence that his stuff is indeed good enough.
“This is about young pitchers settling into the big leagues. This isn’t about anything other than that,” Peterson said. “The last start, he executed more quality pitches than he has in any game in his career. That was a big step for him. Young pitchers always question, is this going to be good enough? You try so hard, but there’s a point of trying too hard.
“We made a joke about it, because I looked down and said, you’re wearing Nikes. What’s the slogan for Nike? Just do it. It’s not the try it league; it’s the do it league. He finally understands the difference between trying your best and doing your best. It was a major step for him.”
Pelfrey (2-3, 4.68 ERA) actually lost to Cincinnati, but allowed two runs over six innings in a strong bounce-back performance.
After going 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA throwing to Brian Schneider his first two starts, Pelfrey went 0-2 with a bloating 8.22 ERA over his next three with Raul Cassanova behind the plate, unable to command his two-seamer. But Saturday vs. the Reds, Pelfrey went more with the four-seamer and it worked.
“If Pelrey throws strike one it opens everything up. When he gets ahead his confidence grows; when he gets behind he gets too fine,” Randolph said. “He’s learning to pitch on the job in front of big-league hitters. I hope the more we give him the ball the better he adjusts to big-league competition.
“That’s the key, believing in himself, trusting his stuff. His confidence has to get to where he truly believes he belongs here and with his stuff he can get guys out. You conquer that demon, he has a chance to be a decent pitcher.”
For his part, Pelfrey readily acknowledged his struggles commanding his sinking two-seam fastball, calling it a “five out of 10.”
“The sinker’s my best pitch; I’m not getting rid of it,” Pelfrey said. “The last three starts, I’d been falling behind guys on my sinker. I was going to go out and pound the zone, throw strikes.”
But Pelfrey also insisted it had nothing to do with whether he was pitching to Cassanova or Ramon Castro, who caught his prior outing.
“There’s a comfort level with somebody who’s caught you more, naturally. If I’d pitched to Casanova more, there’d be more of a comfort level. But it didn’t matter who was back there,” Pelfrey said. “I’m not making it easy on Cassanova if I’m not hitting my spots. I don’t care who you put back there, it’s tough to catch a guy when he’s not throwing strikes. I had nothing to do with that.”
Still, Castro felt Pelfrey may have found a formula that worked against the Reds, something that he can take with him into other games, starting with this series finale against Washington, now trying to salvage a four-game split against the last-place Nationals.
“It wasn’t just sinker, sinker. It was like four-seamer, four-seamer, slider, sinker, that sinker running in on right-handed batters. It’s was better,” Castro said. “Hopefully if he keeps doing that, if it’s working for him, keep doing that.”