Time for El Duque to Step Aside

The two presumptive candidates for the Mets fifth starter job, Orlando Hernandez and Mike Pelfrey, threw a simulated game yesterday.  They each worked through the same lineup of minor leaguers and the two major league catchers, Ramon Castro and Brian Schneider.  Neither pitcher was perfect, but one clearly looked like a major league pitcher.  And it wasn't Hernandez.

El Duque, fighting a bunion on his right foot, has famously changed his windup to take pressure off it.  In doing so, he has lost his velocity and his command.  During one sequence yesterday, he walked three batters and hit one, forcing in a run.  One observer said he looked "bat shy," as if he were afraid to throw one in the strike zone.

Pelfrey threw darting fastballs that consistently reached the low nineties.  He gave up a home run and a double to Schneider on backdoor sliders - a pitch he learned to throw just last week.  Unlike Hernandez, he has started exhibition games this Spring, and he has been largely effective.

Hernandez has only thrown simulated games and bullpen sessions, and has looked like a slow-pitch softball pitcher riding a beer buzz every time out. 

It's time to give Pelfrey a full season in the major leagues as the Mets' fifth starter.  He may have been rushed to the majors last year, but clearly, he learned from his experience.  After starting the season 0-7 with a 6.10 ERA, he finished 3-1 with an ERA of 4.88.  He seems to have remembered the lessons he learned last year, with only one bad outing marring his statistics this Spring.

Orlando Hernandez was, at times, the Mets' best pitcher last year.  But he is a different pitcher this year.  At age 38 or 45 or 65, El Duque cannot learn a new windup and change his mechanics.  Even if he can do so, he is bound to hurt himself, ala Sandy Koufax, as a direct result of changing his motion.  It's time for him to get surgery on that bunion, and take the year off, or retire completely.  But he can't reinvent himself at this stage of his career.

Mike Pelfrey isn't perfect, but he has great stuff, and he can be coached at this young stage of his career.  It's time for the Mets to get younger.  They must abandon El Duque, at least for this season, and commit to Pelfrey.