FanNation - The Republic of Sport

Rick Peterson is a really good pitching coach who has a history of being a developer of young arms (Zito, Hudson and Mulder in Oakland) and as an innovator. When the A's drafted Hudson, he only threw 91 MPH but got Hudson to throw 95-96 by developing better hip rotation.

Peterson was also the first pitching coach to consult with Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, AL.

Is it Peterson's fault that Oliver Perez is a moron and that Heilman and Sosa leave too many balls up in the zone and give up more home runs than they should? Even with those two relievers fueling the fire sometimes, the Mets still have the 6th best ERA in the NL.

Is it Peterson's fault that the Mets offense has a dire inability to hit and score runs? The Mets are 13th in the NL in both team batting average and home runs and 11thin runs scored.

If the Mets scored a few more runs here and there, the overall record would be better and there would be no conversation about the pitching.

Peterson's extensive work before games and series puts his pitchers in good positions over their approach and the mental aspects towards their starts.

It is then up to the pitchers to follow through and pitch well.

The pitching coach should be under fire.................besides Santana, the entire staff has been absolutely awful............

"has a history of being a developer of young arms (Zito, Hudson and Mulder in Oakland)"

- so sandy Kofax's pitching coach was a genius too? Maybe he just had 3 major pitching procucts....kind of like leo mazzone with Glavine, smoltz & maddux.
Mazzone - I think is great, but PART of his 'genius' was having the talent there

- I'm not saying he doesn't deserve credit for those 3....but he really has not developed any 'home grown' Met talent since he has been here

jgb, agreed.

I think fans have a woefully poor understanding of what a hitting or pitching coach does, how much he can help, etc.

Unless you can show me a miserable staff (or lineup) that was turned around by its respective coach, I will remain forever unsure of what the hell these guys do for a living.

It's hard enough to quantify how much the manager matters in baseball, let alone a hitting or pitching coach!

screw the press

I love the mets! Best pitching in the league and they're mad young..

****

best pitching in the league? wtf are you smoking. other than santana their pitching is worthless.

santana,maine,perez,pedro,el duque

pretty good

you mean because Super Johann Santana isn't undefeated and has, at times, looked actually MORTAL!!? OMG! You couldn't pay me to have the Mets' pitching staff on my fantasy team. I'd sooner have Tampa Bay's!

I never mentioned anything about the yankees. but the mets do not have the best staff in the majors.

Santana is good. Maine is solid. Perez has not had good back to back seasons in his career. Pedro? he's not even going to pitch before the asb. El duque? please.

as the guy mentioned it's "pretty good".

at least spell Chien Ming wAng's name right.

Best staff in the majors? Arizona, perhaps. Maybe the Angels when healthy. But the Mets? ha ha ha ha They're in the middle.

Randolph is the one to blame for the guidance of the team. It is him who doesn't know how to handle pitchers! Whatever happened last year was his fault. Nobody criticizea him because they are afraid of being called "racists"
CheoM

Peterson and Randolph both need to be fired. On paper the Mets have one of the best teams in baseball yet these 2 can't figure out how to use the players they have. The Mets starters and relievers are terrible. They have given up a ton of home runs this year. Yet all they got in the off season is Santana who is doing well, excpet he gets no run support when he pitches which puts blame on the sluggish offense. Randolph keeps defending coaches, himself and players who underperform. Stop with the excuses and do your job. Management, fire him already. Bench guys who are not performing like Delgado. And why is Alou playing when Pagan was tearing it up. Just because these high priced players get paid the big bucks and are veterans does not mean they should be playing when other players are doing well. The team is paying them all regardless. Start players who perform, just win.. The Mets management plays way too conservative and that has shown to backfire. Just look at last season..........

Blaming Rick Peterson would be about as smart as trading Brian Bannister.

Met Fan... I agree with you that the players that are making it happen are the ones that should play. As much as I'd love to see Delgado's a*s on the bench, we don't have much of an upgrade to replace him. Still, at the very least, Alou should platoon with Pagan in LF.