Nelson Figueroa’s welcome back to the Majors the beginning of this month was not a success in any way, shape, or form. He lasted an inning and two thirds, giving up ten hits, six earned runs, and three homers.
He was immediately designated to the bullpen, and would probably still be there without the injuries that have ravaged the pitching staff.
In his first relief appearance, a mere two days after his horrendous start, Figueroa picked up a win throwing four and a third innings of scoreless relief striking out five without any walks relieving the injured Jon Niese after he tore his hamstring.
All in all, since his bad start, Figueroa made six relief appearances, throwing twelve and a third innings giving up five earned runs while walking five and striking out fourteen. Nothing outstanding, but consistently decent in a relief role.
Figueroa was moved back to the rotation on August 25th when he put in a losing effort against the Florida Marlins. He threw a solid five innings, only giving up one earned run, but the Mets were unable to back him up, only plating one and making two errors that cost the team, and Figueroa the game.
He seemed to find whatever he’s been looking for yesterday, in what was the best start of his journeyman career.
He threw seven strong innings, only giving up six hits and two walks while striking out a career high ten batters. His stuff looked great throughout the game, working his fastball on both sides of the plate, and throwing his off speed pitches effectively both for strikes, and for swings and misses.
Figueroa has been a bit of a mystery in his time with the Mets. He seems to pitch well enough to get a win in most of his starts, but rarely does. He’s 5-6 overall in his two seasons with the Mets in ten starts and 26 appearances. He’s got a 4.54 ERA with the team since he came back in 2008. An ERA under 5.0 is something most Mets starters can’t brag about this year.
So the question that needs to be asked is, should Figueroa be a part of the plan for starting pitching next season?
The answer is, I’m not sure…
I think he’d be a good sixth starter (ie. someone there to fill a spot, or pitch some long relief), but nothing more. The problem is his inconsistency, and the fact that he’s already 35 years old. He hasn’t been able to pull it all together so far, why should we be fooled into thinking he can do it now?
However, if he can string together some starts like the one he put together yesterday to end this season, he might pitch himself into 2010′s roster.
As usual, I’d love for Nelson to prove me wrong, but looking back on his career, I’m not counting on it. He’ll likely remain in the Mets organization for his remaining years, but will get some frequent flier miles traveling back and forth between Flushing and Buffalo.
