I Still Think Dan Warthen Needs to Go

Look at the Mets pitching under Dan Warthen. Go ahead and sift through the stats, the records and the personnel. Talent wise the Mets pitching isn't great. Starting pitching has been better than relief pitching which has to do with the starters having a bit better personnel than the bullpen.

But if you forget about the names on the back of the uniforms and just look at the innings breakdown of the majority of Mets losses the last few seasons, you'll find a glaring commonality. They mostly contain one majorly bad inning.

Last night was just another round of this sick cycle carousel that has plagued Mets pitching. It doesn't matter if it was Dickey, Santana, Gee, or Hefner out there. They've all fell victim to "the big inning."

Psychologically "the big inning" is a heart breaker for any team. In the first inning when you're down more runs than innings left in the game, whether you want to admit it or not you feel like the game is lost. Go ahead and sort through all the Mets losses last year. The majority of them contained at least one inning in which 3+ runs were given up.

So why am I blaming Dan Warthen? I know he doens't throw the pitches but he's the one who's tasked with getting his pitchers game ready. He's the one who has to know the psyche of each starter and where are the signs that trouble is about to break loose. He's the one who needs to make sure mentally each arm in his staff is able to get out of trouble.

When hitters don't hit, the hitting coach goes. When teams don't win, the manager is fired. When pitchers consistently find themselves giving up 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 or 7 runs in a single inning, I'd say the pitching coach needs to be questioned.

Mental toughness is lacking in seemingly every pitcher not named Matt Harvey. From where I sit Dan Warthen has done very little to change the culture of the Mets pitchers and give them the tutoring they desperately need to avoid "the big inning."

Should Dan Warthen Be Held Accountable?

In the business world you have annual reviews. A time where you sit down and find out what you're doing well and what needs improving. You're given specific action items that you need to accomplish and the glaring holes in your performance are shared so that you have opportunity to improve them.

I have no idea how "reviews" work in the baseball world, but I wonder if someone is sitting down with Dan Warthen to talk about how his pitching staff is performing?

Let me start by saying that I'm not the person who blames managers for on field performance...unless your name is Willie Randolph. Dan Warthen has not thrown a single bad pitch this year. His pitchers are responsible for their own actions from game to game. But what Warthen should be held accountable for is the longer term growth or ineptitude of his pitchers. Bad games happen, but what you don't want to see is the same problems occurring over and over and over. A coach should be able to see the issues, bring them to the players attention, and make sure they can work to resolve it.

With that being said there is a glaring mental problem with Mets pitching. They have a habit of imploding in a single inning. The Mets are rarely beaten over the course of 9 innings. They tend to lose due to the fact that single inning accounted for the majority of the runs.

If you look at the Mets record this year, all but 7 losses have come because Mets pitching has given up 3+ runs in a single inning. 54 losses have come because Mets pitching can't get out of an inning and they allow a floodgate of runs to open.

We all know the BLOWpen issues, but this is occurring with starting pitching as well. No Mets starter is innocent of these charges. In fact all of them have given up 3+ runs before the 5th inning in one game or another. So in the first 4 innings of a game the Mets consistently find themselves in a ditch they have to crawl out of.

Why is this such an issue? It has to do with a combination of lack of mental strength and situation awareness. Mets pitching has to realize that it is imperative to stop the bleeding of runs ASAP because of the power shortage that is the Mets lineup. Efforts need to be made to hammer this home especially as the Mets continue to dig themselves deeper and deeper into a sub .500 hole.

Dan Warthen is not fully to blame, but when his "employees" consistently fall into the same trap over and over and over, 54 games worth,  you would think this is a vital area that a pitching coach needs to work on with his staff.

Maybe he is, but whatever he's doing is not working.

Fixing the Mets: Coaching Staff

Injuries were the biggest issue with the Mets this year. Without a doubt, they were the major contributor to the demise of the 2009 season. No one is arguing that, but I think we're letting the coaching staff off too easy because of the injuries.

There needs to be some changes made. I've already expressed my desire to have Dave Duncan as the pitching coach and say our final farewell to Dan Warthen. But I also believe it's time for Jerry Manuel, the training staff, Razor Shines and Howard Johnson to go.

The training staff should have a major overhaul with all the injuries that we've experienced over the last two seasons. I can't blame them if one or two guys get hurt every two months, but when injuries start approaching the 20's you know there's a bigger problem. I'm not sure what workout regiment or stretching exercises these guys employ, but whatever it is, it stinks. Clean house.

Jerry Manuel is a guy that I like. I love his personality and the way he handles the media, but I don't think he's cut out to be a championship manager. The players played well for him last year mainly because they were pleased to be rid of Willie Randolph, but this year he's not getting the most from his players.

Let's put injuries aside for the moment, Manuel needs to have these guys motivated to play regardless of their position in the standings. Over the last two months, Manuel hasn't had any impact on the performance of this team, and I scratch my head to think about what influence Manuel has ever had on this ball club.

I think the Mets need to bring a guy who is known for getting players to be sound in the fundamentals and is able to help the maturity of younger players. I'm a fan of Bobby Valentine, but at this point I'd take Tony LaRussa as an upgrade to Manuel.

The amount of errors and ineptitude that this Mets team has displayed this year rests solely on the shoulders of the manager and his coaching staff. He's ultimately responsible for the overall quality of play, and the product is pretty low quality if you ask me. These problems were going on in April, but were masked because the team was winning games at that time. Now with the injuries, the errors and not-so-smart play are just amplified.

And last but not least is HoJo. I loved this guy growing up and I know he's had an influence on the development of David Wright, but is he really helping. A lot of people argue that what impact does a hitting coach have on established ballplayers? Good question, but it's obvious he's not helping with the highs and lows that David Wright has had this year at the plate. Murphy's sophomore campaign was less than stellar. Strikeouts are up across the board.

Is HoJo really helping or does he have a job just because he coached David Wright in the minors? I don't have an answer as to who should replace him, but if we want a very different product on the field for the 2010 season I truly believe you need a new management team at the rudder steering us in the right direction.

It's time to clean house.

Fixing the Mets: Starting Pitching

The final week of the 2009 season is here. I've never looked forward to the end of baseball as I have this season. So it is only appropriate that at Mets Lifer we focus on what needs to be done beyond the 2009 campaign to position the Mets to compete, not just next year but in the years ahead.

Over the course of the next week, we will take a look at the different aspects of the Mets that need to be addressed and debate about what should be done to improve this team in the future.

And so we begin with the most important aspect of the Mets, starting pitching.

At this point the 2010 starting rotation looks like this: Johan Santana and four other guys who aren't really that good. Oliver Perez has us dreaming about the days of Victor Zambrano. John Maine's health is a question mark. Pelfrey is a nut job. And Tim Redding can pitch really well in September when you're out of a pennant race but not so good any other time of year.

But talent isn't the only need the Mets have. A new teacher is a necessity.

Dan Warthen has to go. Warthen's tenure started smoothly when he briefly "fixed" Oliver Perez after Rick Peterson's zen philosophy had Ollie P in fits, but since then Warthen has done little to warrant him sticking around. Pelfrey's utter decline does not bode well for Mr. Warthen. Before Maine got hurt, his performance was also on the decline.

I'm sure Warthen is a nice guy, but with so many question marks in the starting rotation and a number of younger arms that could potentially get a lot of starts next year (i.e. Niese, Nieve, etc.) a solid, proven pitching coach is exactly what the Mets need.

Enter Dave Duncan.

Duncan is known for working extremely well with young arms and being able to mold pitchers into solid, reliable arms. Any guy who can turn Adam Wainwright into a Cy Young candidate is worth a look. Duncan's contract with the Cards expires in the offseason and he should be the #1 target for the Mets.

Solid pitching never goes out of style. I don't care what size the stadium is or how many power bats you sign through free agency, starting pitching makes or breaks a ballclub. The Mets have succeeded when they had starting pitching and I truly believe Duncan is a guy that can help develop the young arms and instruct the weaker ones that need tweaking.

After signing Duncan, the Mets have to make a play for Roy Halladay. The Santana/Halladay tandem would be unbelievable and would almost guarantee the Mets to have a fighting chance in almost 40% of their games.

Halladay will not come cheap, but I am convinced he's worth every penny. A lot of people whine about the Mets having to give up all their prospects for him, but look at how that worked out with Santana. Other than Carlos Gomez can you even remember what other prospects were involved?

Jon Lackey will be a name that's tossed around but when it comes down to it Lackey isn't on the same plain as Halladay, and if Halladay is available via a trade the Mets absolutely should make every effort to get him.

Those two moves, Duncan & Halladay, would be a fantastic starting point for the Mets. With Santana and Halladay as your top 2 starters, the Mets would then be able to explore having an all out battle royal for the final 3 spots between Perez, Maine, Pelfrey, Niese, Figueroa, Nieve and others. I wouldn't mind the Mets pursuing another reliable arm as a #5 starter, someone like Randy Wolf, but I'd be pleased if the Mets only get Duncan and Halladay and move on from there.

But if the Mets start spring training with Mike Pelfrey and Oliver Perez as their top starters after Johan Santana, I'm afraid come September 2010 we'll be in much the same situation as we find ourselves today.