Pelfrey and Davis, Davis and Pelfrey. Whatever may become of the Mets’ season as summer turns to fall, there is the hope that at least — at least! — this year will be the year when Mike Pelfrey and Ike Davis become bona fide stars. Strasburg struck out 14 for the Nationals on Tuesday, fulfilling the expectations that come with being the No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 MLB First-Year Player Draft. The Mets took Pelfrey at No. 9 in 2005, and it wasn’t until this year that he has shown the sustained success they had envisioned.
Tuesday’s start against San Diego was typical of 2010 for Pelfrey: Nine innings, one run, five hits, no walks, six strikeouts. He ended up taking a no-decision — the Mets wouldn’t win until Davis’ walk-off blast in the 11th (more on that later). Yet Pelfrey’s performance still resonated. He’s allowed a total of three earned runs in his last four starts, dropping his ERA to 2.23, good for ninth in the insanity that is the pitching landscape of this season.
Last night, the Mets started an entirely homegrown infield, all 27 or under, with Pelfrey on the mound. Jose Reyes and Davis hit home runs. David Wright had a pair of hits. Pelfrey was awesome.
Fans always seem to appreciate young, homegrown players, and they’re right to: Young, homegrown players are both exciting and cost-effective.
These are exciting times for Mets fans. Whether by design or by accident, the Mets appear to be moving away from their familiar model of relying on over-the-hill acquisitions and toward a more organic winner.
That may or may not come this year, but those clamoring for the team to to trade a slew of prospects for the right to rent Cliff Lee or overpay Roy Oswalt should consider the Mets’ promising future. This is something I got at this offseason: For the first time in years, the Mets have numbers in the farm system. Not just one or two top-flight prospects and a pile of muck, but a whole group of young players in the high levels who appear likely to contribute to the Major League team.
Not all of them will pan out, but there’s no good way of knowing which ones will and which ones won’t, and no reason to trade away any of them in the name of this single season. The Mets should, as always, strive to compete every single year. And teams need to develop good young players to do that.
Sure, Oswalt and Lee are great pitchers and if either could be had for a steal, you know, cool. But neither guarantees the Mets a playoff berth, and so the team should be leery of jeopardizing its longterm health for a short-term fix.
Oh, and someone please make Jenrry Mejia a starter already. Good lord.
Tedquarters 
Free Mejia from the bullpen!
As much as I like Tejada, I’m looking forward to Havens getting here by next year (hopefully). I also wouldn’t mind evans given another shot in the outfield. Although once Beltran gets back, it won’t really matter.
With Niese, Pelfrey, Santana and Dickey, this team is definitely showing signs I never expected this year. It’s wonderful to see.
That picture is fabulous. So Gary Cooper.
Yo Ted,
Do you think tonight will be rained out. I have tix but don’t want to head all the way to the stadium to be let down. Thoughts?
I’m in the Citi Field press box as we speak. Tarp’s on the field but the rain isn’t coming too hard. Obviously they’re not scheduled to play each other again, and the Padres have to get back to San Diego after tomorrow’s game, so a doubleheader would be tough. The teams have a mutual offday on July 26, but the Mets would have to expediate their travel home from LA and the Padres would have to fly in from Pittsburgh for one game before heading out to San Diego, so it doesn’t look like a good fit. They’ll probably try pretty hard to get this one in.
And I’m wrong. Day-night doubleheader tomorrow.
They call that calendar algebra.
Holy santa claus s#$%.
Back to the topic at hand. (that line gave me rap song deja vu; cant place it though)
I’m completely on board with the home grown approach. For better or for worse I feel like I’d be on board with the team in a more sincere way if the team stuck to the development path.
Plus more often then not you have to ante up in real dollars for the vets when you acquire them, and you only have to do that for the kids who develop into useful parts, and only then once they’ve contributed for you.
I assume you’re thinking of Nothin but a G Thing, in which Snoop says, “Now back to the lecture at hand…”
Straight from the mouths of Jay Horowitz and Dave Howard, another championship season in the minds of the Sterling Equities-paid faithful. No weaknesses or room for improvement on this squad. And let’s just vest those options for Cora and Tatis now.