Mets pen faces pressure

Mets pen faces pressure

Howard Simmons/New York Daily News

The news on Johan Santana is good, but the news on the bullpen? Not so much.

PORT ST. LUCIE By any definition it was a feel-goo d day here for the Mets on Sunday, as Johan Santana officially defied the odds by making it through spring training without a significant setback to be named their Opening Day starter.

And yet its impossible to ignore the ominous signs that surround such news. For one thing, Santana was so sore following his start last Monday that he couldnt finish his long-toss session between starts and needed an anti-inflammatory injection as he continues to fight through the effects of his 2010 shoulder capsule surgery.

As a result, the Mets are going to be extra careful with their ace early in the season, limiting him to fewer than 100 pitches per start, as well as giving him extra days of rest between starts.

Even a limited Santana is crucial for the Mets, of course, but if he can only go five or six innings, at least for the time being, that highlights the need for a strong bullpen to support a rotation that could range between mediocre and solid.

And t hats the most ominous part, at least based on spring training.

The one area of the ballclub the Mets spent money on last winter was the bullpen, after late-inning meltdowns from their relievers were perhaps most responsible for the second-half slide last season.

So far, however, neither of their free-agent signings, Frank Francisco and Jon Rauch, has pitched well enough to inspire much confidence that they will lock down the eighth and ninth innings.

Francisco, Rauch, and Ramon Ramirez, the reliever acquired from the Giants in the Angel Pagan trade, all have ERAs of well over 5.00.

Obviously spring training numbers arent necessarily an indicator of regular season performance, but in the case of Francisco, particularly, there is enough concern that people close to him have reached out to Terry Collins to tell the manager not to worry, that Francisco has another gear when the season starts.

Collins reply was that hed like to see some of that right now from his closer, especially since Franciscos fastball had been hovering around 90 mph, raising eyebrows among the Mets staff.

So when Francisco went out and hit 96 on the radar gun Saturday, Collins was encouraged.

It hasnt been great, the manager said of his bullpen on Sunday, but lately there have been some bright spots.

However, that was before Rauch, who was signed to be Franciscos setup man, took a pounding from the Tigers, giving up three runs on four hits, including a home run, as his ERA soared to 7.94.