3 Balks by Pelfrey

NY Times: Man, this is a typical Met game to me. They lost the game tonight because their starting pitcher got called for 3 balks. He actually got caught on camera committing a fourth balk but the umps let that one go. Final score, Mets 0, SF Giants 2.

Pelfrey over-worked in 2008?

Bob Shpigel of NY Times writes about a theory behind Pelfrey's struggles this season. I feel it's a little early in the season to tell if he has a dead arm or if it just might be that Pelfrey is over-rated.

The Sports Illustrated writer Tom Verducci developed a theory that any pitcher younger than 25 who increases his innings total by 30 or more from the previous season has a greater risk of injury or a decline in his performance. He counts Pelfrey among the 10 prime candidates for a regression this season, along with Cole Hamels (bothered by elbow problems), Jon Lester (0-2, 9.00 E.R.A.) and Tim Lincecum (0-1, 7.56 E.R.A.).

Of the 25-year-old Pelfrey, Manager Jerry Manuel said Monday night, “I haven’t seen his real good stuff yet,” then speculated that he could be going through a dead-arm period, which is rare at such an early stage of the season.

“I don’t know if that’s the case, but I just haven’t seen some of the stuff he showed last year,” Manuel said. “We’re going to sit down and see if there’s anything possibly wrong with him. We’ll watch him a little bit, maybe give him an extra day’s rest here and there. See if we can get that life back. I just haven’t seen the life in those pitches.”