Pelfrey has become The MAN

Back in April, that image didn’t exactly strike fear into the hearts of opposing batters.  Four months later?  That image has been sending more batters back to the dugout with their heads down than any other pitcher in the league.  Mike Pelfrey’s resurgence this year for the New York Mets has been a major factor for why they find themselves just .5 game out in the NL East.  Check out Pelfrey’s splits before and after his miraculous turn around:

April – May

2-6, 4.89 ERA, 6-5 K-BB ratio

June – August

11-2, 3.06 ERA, 3-1 K-BB ratio

Obviously, something has clicked in this young man’s head.  He suddenly put it all together and has now become the most important pitcher for a club that finds itself right in the middle of an upcoming September pennant race (and that is a team with Johan Santana!).  Sure, Carlos Delgado has had a great year and David Wright and Jose Reyes again find themselves among those considered for this year’s NL MVP, but young Mr. Pelfrey has definitely become his team’s most valuable commodity. 

What most people seem to forget, too, is that he is only 24 years old!  Most pitchers aren’t making their debuts that young, and Pelfrey has been in the league for over 2 years now.  He was asked to do ALOT right from the start, thanks to shoddy trading (Kazmir-Zambrano/Benson deals), hitter-heavy free agent aquisitions (Beltran/Delgado), and a huge focus on the rebuilding of the bullpen. 

Now that Pelfrey has gone through the learning curve phase of his professional career (something he should have done in the minors with MUCH less pressure) he has come into his own and has developed into the 1st round pick the New York Mets organization has hoped he would be.  

Whether or not he will be able to consistently put up these numbers and become a top pitcher in the league over his career still remains to be seen.  

I sure hope so.