Posts tagged ‘randolph’

As Mike stated in his post about last nights game, I blasted Willie Randolph for using Aaron Heilman. I know that Aaron Heilman has looked decent in his last couple of appearances but here was another tight spot that Willie put him in and Aaron disappointed yet again.

Willie keeps giving him chances and Heilman keeps failing. When is Willie going to realize that enough is enough? When is the last straw? To me it is clear that Aaron Heilman should have a new role on this team. He is the innings eater, when a game gets away from either side and you don’t want to tax your bullpen.

Here are a few stats that I just threw together: This season, when the game is decided by 3 or less runs (either way), Heilman has pitched 13.2 innings and has given up 11 earned runs, thats an ERA of 7.24 in close games. This isn’t counting the grand slam that he gave up against the Cubs in that tight game because it ended up being a blow out and also all the runs were considered unearned. One the other hand, when the game is decided by 4 or more runs (either way), Heilman has pitched 8 innings and given up only 3 earned runs for an ERA of 3.38.

This proves to me that he cannot be trusted in a tight spot.  Willie needs to realize this and stop giving him these chances. Last night, Willie wanted to rest up some of the other relievers, only to end up using them anyway and giving up 3 runs in the process.

Baseball isn’t about helping a player find his confidence, it’s about winning games. If Heilman can’t cut it for this team then get rid of him and move on. I am sick of this “experiment,” having to baby Heilman along so he gains confidence. We all want a World Series this year for the Mets so if he isn’t going to help us win games then we don’t want him.