Clay Holmes
By all accounts, Dom Hamel has struggled since his promotion to Triple-A Syracuse last season. This season, it got to the point where Hamel was moved out of the rotation.
There are a number of reasons. His low 90s fastball doesn’t play as well as a starter in the upper limits of the minors. He’s become more of a guy living on the edges than attacking the strike zone. The ensuing walks get you in trouble.
That said, Hamel still does a lot right. He has a high spin sweeper and a change that generates a number of swings and misses. He has a cutter he either needs to complete refine or scrap. He still has a good 12-6 curve.
He’s been far more effective against right-handed batters limiting them to a .222/.276/.284 batting line. He’s struggles against left-handed batters with them hitting .303/.389/.487 against him.
Part of that is he has a plan of attack against right-handed batters. He’s a fastball-sweeper pitcher against them. Against left-handed batters, he hasn’t truly decided on the change or curve as the main secondary pitch.
In the end, he’s not a starter for a few reasons. He’s a two pitch pitcher against right-handed batters. Left-handed batters are feasting on him. He lacks a true third pitch.
However, there are numbers that portend success at the next level.
Hamel strikes out over a batter per inning (10.19 K/9). He has a 43.8 GB%. In his minor league career, his FIP has typically been better than his ERA. There are just some pitchers who perform better at the Major League level, and Hamel just may be one of those guys.
This is a good time to try it too.
Hamel has been pitching well out of the pen. Over his last four appearances, he has struck out 10 over nine innings with a 2.00 ERA and 1.111 WHIP.
Being in the bullpen allows him to scrap some pitches and increase some velocity. Working with Jeremy Hefner can get him to another level. In some ways, Hamel can be the effective multiple inning reliever Hefner has helped Jose Butto become.
As we well know, the Mets need multiple inning relievers with their pitching staff being decimated by injuries. It’s not just their being without Sean Manae, Kodai Senga, Griffin Canning, and Tylor Megill in the rotation and AJ Minter in the bullpen.
There’s the trickle down effect to the bullpen. They’re overtaxed. We are seeing Reed Garrett and Huascar Brazibán wear down and struggle.
Hamel could potentially provide multiple innings to take the burden away from the Mets top relievers. He can eat innings when pitchers like Blade Tidwell falter, or Clay Holmes continues to manage his innings.
If it fails, it fails. Much of what the Mets are doing now is failing. It’s worth a gamble on a multi-inning reliever with a high strikeout and spin rate.
This could be Butto. It could be more of the same. It’s worth a shot.
There was a time WFAN was the best talk radio station in New York. Probably America. We can pinpoint different moments it started to fall apart.
Dom Imus’ Rutgers scandal probably led to where we are. That was a factor in Mike and the Mad Dog eventually splitting. It brought on Craig Carton which began the tone of the station.
Gone was pure sports talk. Now, it was sensationalism. Pure shtick replaced debate and discussion. It’s been all downhill from that.
That brings us to McPherson. If you’ve heard him, he’s a troll. Mets fans are his favorite targets, but in sum, he’s a troll.
Then, there’s Jon Heyman. He’s an easy target with his typo ridden tweets. He’s seen as a Scott Boras lackey sending out info to help give Boras leverage in negotiations.
Of course, that could also be seen as the strength of Heyman. He has a good relationship with the best agent in sports who represents the best players – players like Pete Alonso and Juan Soto.
With Soto on the verge of getting a record setting deal, everyone is eagerly anticipating to see where he will sign. With Heyman being the reporter with the pipeline to Boras, everyone wants to talk to him.
For his part, Heyman hasn’t been discerning. He’s been willing to talk to everyone and anyone. That includes talking to McPherson on the Friday overnight.
The professionalism is commendable. If only that was reciprocated by McPherson, who probably doesn’t get this caliber of guest (don’t bother correcting me, I’m not interested in listening more than I’ve had to find out I’m wrong).
For his part, Heyman tried laughing along with the “joke” he was on the take with Boras. He tried rolling with the punches over Arson Judge. The thing is McPherson didn’t know when to quit.
That’s probably wrong. He likely knew what he was doing. He didn’t intend to inform his listeners about Soto, and to a lesser extent, Alonso.
Nothing on new Mets starter Clay Holmes. This was just an exercise in getting Heyman riled up and losing his cool. To that, McPherson got what he wanted with Heyman hanging up saying he was quitting WFAN forever.
It’s not too dissimilar from Carl Banks doing the same with Sal Licata. Where there’s a lack of knowledge, there’s pure shock value even if it comes at the expense of the dignity of the guest.
Sure enough, while most were coming down on McPherson for his lack of professionalism, fellow WFAN host Greg Gianotti came swooping in to McPherson’s defense:
I guess the purposeful misspelling was supposed to be funny. In reality, it’s the perfect way to sum it all up. Failed shtick designed for shock value that’s not funny not matter how desperate it tries.
This is a far cry for what WFAN used to be. No sports were discussed. Just unfunny trolling. It’s all just lame. We deserve better, but sadly, nothing will change.