Rox have their way with Maine

The Rockies knocked John Maine around last night en route to an 11-3 victory. Maine left the game after just 3 innings during which the Rockies scored 8 runs (helped along the way by a throwing error committed by Maine). Now there were a few bright spots - David Wright went 2-2 with two walks and a home run, Jeff Francoeur has hit safely in all seven games this season, and there was even a hit with men in scoring position last night. Considering the bullpen was used for 6 innings, they technically combined for a "quality start", giving up only three additional runs.

I have to say that I can not complain about our bullpen. They have been consistently solid. However... I am very concerned about overuse. There is something wrong with the Mets starters. I don't know if there is such a thing as a "mental toughness" gene - but if there is, these guys don't have it, with Johan Santana being the exception. Our starters can not get it together if one thing goes wrong. You can actually see the meltdowns progress as the starters continue to walk batters, give up hits, miss the strike zone, and perpetuate the cycle. Santana is the only starter who can settle himself down, as evidenced by his last start, and even that was too little too late. (Side note - this isn't even just about the starters. It's about the fact that if the Mets get down early they seem to be incapable of making a comeback. That is demoralizing to a baseball fan, but it is also a topic for another day.)

This morning, I did some math. Out of a possible 64 innings of baseball (7 games plus one extra inning) do you know how many of those innings have been pitched by starters? 36.2. That is ridiculous. We haven't had a starter make it past the sixth inning this season. In those 36.2 innings, the average ERA is 6.2. This number is skewed because of Maine's horrific start yesterday - 8 runs in three innings pitched will do that - but even if Maine is removed from the equation, the average becomes 4.69. For a team that seems to be unable to hit with runners in scoring position, this is WAY too high.

I found it interesting that during the broadcast last night, Gary Cohen and Keith Hernandez discussed the fact that Maine, Perez, and Pelfrey were essentially handed starting spots even though they were out-pitched during spring training. It makes me feel better that rabid fans are not the only ones questioning this rotation or the decisions made during spring training.