With Hernandez going 5 innings today, the feeling has to be now that he is the clear front runner for the last starting spot. In my personal opinion, I think the only hting that could be holding back the announcement could be Figueroa. He has shown with the PR that he can pitch and pitch against good talent. Figueroa can bring a lot to the Mets because he has shown he can pitch effectively on back to back days meaning he could be a short man in the pen, a long man in the pen or a starter. Even though Hernandez is the fifth starter for now, Figueora's success, if it continues, can keep him on a short leash. Anyway, here are the box highlights for today's game:
The Good:
Green 1-1, HR, 2RBI, R
Tatis 1-3, HR, 2RBI, R, 2BB
Reyes 1-4, SB
Hernandez 5.0 IP, 5H, ER, 3K
Villone 1.0 H, BB
The Bad:
Garcia 2.0 IP, 7 H, 5 E, 2K
Murphy 0-3
Chuch 0-3
Evans 0-3
The big contrast in this game was Hernandez vs Garcia. Hernandez got up there and eventhough he doesn't have a lot of velocity, he was hitting his pitches and getting the Braves to swing and get themselves out. He also showed off the glove and really had an impressive outing, in fact if this was a really game, we would be talking about him as one of the stars of the game. Garcia could not get it going again, and really today might have sealed his fate of not getting into rotation. He will probably start the season in the minors (if he wants to) and will get called up if needed. Between Hernandez, Figueora and Niese, I don't know how needed Garcia will be and I also wonder what will happen with Redding gets off the DL, because Parnell could easily slip into the Mets pen and when it comes down to it, the Mets want Niese, Parnell and Figueora in these spots because not only are these their guys, they are really popular with the Mets fans (especially Figueora being from New York, I would love to see him be successful this season).
