Maine to begin challenging batters again
New York Mets starting pitcher John Maine works against the Colorado Rockies in the first inning. (April 13, 2010) Credit: AP
ST. LOUIS - When John Maine was asked to describe the visible differences between his previous delivery and what will be on display Sunday night at Busch Stadium, he talked about a lower leg kick and a tighter crouch or tuck. What Maine is hoping for is to recreate the mechanics that helped him become a 15-game winner in 2007 - and duplicate the fastball that made that possible.
That's why Maine spent three straight days in the bullpen preparing for tonight's pivotal start against the Cardinals. Maine believes that his recent reliance on offspeed pitches have taken away his feel for the fastball.
"If you throw one pitch more than the other, you're going to lose something, and I think that's just what it is," Maine said. "I've got to get back to challenging people. I hope for better results, but it's not an overnight thing. I've always given the chance to win and I'll get back to that."
Manager Jerry Manuel suggested after Maine's start Tuesday that his spot in the rotation might be open for discussion if he failed to put up more encouraging numbers shortly. But the manager refuses to say that Sunday is a do-or-die mission for Maine and the Mets - given their lack of rotation depth - and he would prefer that Maine snap out of his funk and keep his job.
"I've got to go back and pitch with what got me here," Maine said. "I'd rather do that than try to be somebody I'm not."
Experiment on hold
Manuel scrapped his plan for moving Jose Reyes down to the No. 3 spot this weekend in St. Louis after seeing that the shortstop is not yet comfortable in his first week back from the disabled list.
"I'm going to have to be patient with that," Manuel said. "He'll let me know. I want to make sure that he feels ready. You're going to have to give him time. He not quite in that rhythm. He's on hip-hop, we're playing jazz."
Reyes had been wearing a protective guard on his right ankle after fouling a ball off that foot Wednesday, but he chucked it for yesterday's game because it interfered with his running.
