Wagner’s DL Stint Comes at Right Time in Schedule
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

When reliever Billy Wagner was officially placed on the 15-day disabled list yesterday after tests confirmed that his strained forearm is strained, it was the latest in a series of injuries that have done as much as anything else to cripple the Mets’ chances. Frustrating as they’ve been, few teams could stand the extended losses of their second baseman, both corner outfielders, and their no. 2 and no. 3 starters. Next to all that, losing a closer while you’re third in a three-way scrap for first place in the first week of August just doesn’t compare.
This isn’t a knock on Wagner; even having blown seven saves in 34 chances, he’s still by far the best reliever in Queens and one of the better ones in the league. Still, a stint on the DL won’t affect the team’s chances much at all. If anything, it might help. Having been pitching with a sore shoulder as well as a sore forearm, Wagner could surely use a rest to get as well as he’s going to be for the stretch run, and this is as good a time as any to take it.
During the next two weeks, the Mets play Florida, San Diego, Washington, and Pittsburgh. That isn’t only a feeble schedule; it’s almost uniquely suited to a team trying to get by without its ace reliever.
Other than Florida, none of these teams poses any real threat. San Diego is last in the majors in runs per game, and Washington is next to last. Pittsburgh actually ranks third in the National League, but having traded Jason Bay and Xavier Nady, they aren’t the same team that’s scored nearly five runs a game for most of the year. Not only are these lousy clubs, they’re among the least likely in the game to mount the kind of epic late-inning rallies that would have anyone kicking over garbage cans and throwing their arms open to the skies screaming the name of Billy Wagner.
Second place Florida is obviously different. These are big games, especially coming off a series loss against them last week. Working in the Mets’ favor, though, is the fact that the Marlins aren’t that good; they’ve been outscored both on the season and during the last month. With or without Wagner, the Mets are a better team, and there won’t be any excuses to make for them if they fail to come away with two of three at Shea Stadium this weekend.
Aaron Heilman will presumably get the most chances during the next two weeks, since Duaner Sanchez has had both bad velocity and bad results lately. This might seem like a nightmarish proposition, but while Heilman has a 5.25 ERA, he also pitched well all through June and July, with a 35/13 K/BB ratio and three home runs allowed in 30.2 innings.
However, Heilman’s tenure as closer got off to a miserable start last night when he was brought on in the ninth in a nonsave situation. After walking the first batter on four pitches, he gave up a bloop single that should have been caught by Argenis Reyes; recorded a groundout, then gave up a three-run homer to Jody Gerut, which brought the Padres within one run. He was promptly pulled.
Left-handed hitters such as Gerut have victimized Heilman this year, potentially setting the stage for all sorts of shenanigans involving Pedro Feliciano or Scott Schoeneweis (who recorded a save last night) trotting out to the mound in the middle of the ninth.
Eddie Kunz, who made his major league debut Sunday, is a more intriguing candidate, but that has more to do with novelty than anything else. Kunz is a good prospect, but he isn’t ready to close in a pennant race. The team’s top pick in last year’s amateur draft, he throws a hard sinker and put up flashy numbers at Class AA Binghamton this year: 50.1 innings with a 2.70 ERA and 27 saves. His strength is keeping the ball down — he hasn’t allowed a home run this year, and allowed only one in college. His problem, though, is the kind even San Diego could exploit: He walked a batter every other inning at Binghamton. His inability to pitch on the road this year — his strikeout rate drops by half, actually below his walk rate — is also worrisome. Anyone with visions of him becoming the Mets’ Joba Chamberlain should go take a cold shower.
If there is a cause for concern, it shouldn’t be the idea of Heilman or even Kunz closing (worse pitchers than either can protect three-run leads against Washington), but the prospect of the dreaded bullpen by committee. This always seems to devolve into an excuse for managers to shuffle as many pitchers into and out of save situations as possible, and it never works. You end up with absurd ninth innings like the one in a July 22 game in which Wagner was unavailable, where it took four pitchers to blow a key lead against the Phillies and get three outs. However prepared the Mets are for the next two weeks in theory, a single game like that could end up costing them the playoffs. Like losing a third of the lineup and two-fifths of the rotation, that’s the risk a general manager runs when his tastes run to the ancient.
tmarchman@nysun.com