With Jenrry Mejia out until July, and both Vic Black and Bobby Parnell still on the disabled list, Carlos Torres has been anointed the club’s primary setup man from the right side of the bullpen.
So far, it’s been an up and down experience for the right-hander with Tuesday being one of those down days.
Torres allowed the deciding run in the eighth inning at Marlins Park last night thanks to two walks and a a hit.
He threw 12 of his 23 pitches for strikes, only had one swing and miss and wasn’t close on a lot of his pitches.
“It’s the difference between throwing and trying to ‘feel,’” Torres explained of his performance. “I was just trying to stick the ball in the zone and make sure to throw strikes instead of just throwing it and it would be a strike. When you try to feel, that’s what happens. The balls get sprayed a little bit, which really sucks, because once I got my rhythm.
“I was pounding the zone. But that’s the name of the game. That’s what cost you right there, the two walks,” Torres concluded.
The run Torres allowed ended a streak of 17 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings for the bullpen.
He clearly did not have it right from the beginning on Tuesday night. It was somewhat puzzling why he was allowed to face Morse after allowing the two walks in the eighth inning, especially with a pretty well rested bullpen at Terry Collins’ disposal. It seemed like a good opportunity to at least test Hansel Robles or go to Erik Goeddel, who has really been pitching well lately. Collins clearly doesn’t trust those two in critical spots just yet, which left Torres to either win it or lose it.
Unfortunately, he lost it.
His ball was sailing up and well out of the strike zone against the first two batters, which set him up for what ultimately transpired. His pitches sailing has been a recurring theme early in the year for him – it suggests he’s getting under the ball and flying way open with the front shoulder. That also has prevented him from getting on top of all of his pitches, leaving most of his strikes flat and not particularly deceptive.
This issue could mean one of two things. It could simply be a mechanical issue for Torres, and something he can correct during his side sessions. But, I also wonder if it could be due to fatigue from being overly used over the last year. He’s a guy who has proven to be a quality swingman with a rubber arm, but eventually the heavy usage takes its toll on everyone. His velocity is pretty much what it was last season, and he seems to be a little cutter-happy in the early part of the year, and that potentially disproves the theory.
Still, he’s a human being and he could just be a fatigued.
Just Mets 