Mike Pelfrey’s crash-and-burn season can’t end fast enough.
The struggling right-hander’s only remaining hope is he can get his record to at least .500 and maybe help disguise the fact he’s been among the NL’s biggest flops this season.
Last night’s performance hardly was one on which to hang his hat. Pelfrey surrendered five runs, four of which were earned, over seven innings in a 6-5 loss to the last-place Nationals that extended the Mets’ losing streak to six games.
Pelfrey (10-11, 5.10 ERA) probably has two or three starts remaining, giving him a chance to push his record on the plus side of the ledger, but hardly enough time to convince the Mets they have anything special returning in the rotation behind Johan Santana in 2010. All manager Jerry Manuel would say before last night’s game is he’s optimistic Pelfrey will be part of the team’s rotation next season.
“Where we decide to fit him will be another question,” Manuel said.
Pelfrey is 3-7 with a 5.95 ERA since the All-Star break. He has allowed eight homers in his last five starts (including two last night), a big reason he has won only once since beating the Phillies on Aug. 21.
“I had good stuff, but you look at the boxscore, I made some bad pitches,” Pelfrey said. “I don’t view this as a good outing. I need to have better results.”
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The vast dimensions at Citi Field be damned, Manuel envisions David Wright returning to form next season as someone who can hit 30 homers.
Wright has 10 homers — 23 fewer than he hit last season, putting him on pace to finish with a career low in that category. Wright’s previous low came as a rookie in 2004, when he hit 14 homers.
“I think [Wright] will go back to what he’s done and I just believe this is an aberration for him, as far as the season,” Manuel said. “We’re in the process of trying to look at data and film to determine where we think things have gone wrong.”
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Jeff Francoeur left the tying run at third base and the winning run at second in last night’s ninth inning after his shot through the middle knocked off pitcher Mike MacDougal‘s glove. MacDougal picked up the ball and lobbed it to first base for the final out.
Last month Francoeur hit into a game-ending unassisted triple play against the Phillies, when second baseman Eric Bruntlett caught his line drive.
“I guess I’ve got to stop hitting it up the middle,” Francoeur said. “Any time I hit the ball up the middle, something [lousy] happens.”