Mets' Frank Francisco gets MRI on knee
Mets pitcher Frank Francisco throws a live batting session during spring training. (Feb. 25, 2012) Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Frank Francisco's poor spring training numbers aren't the only thing the Mets have to worry about as they approach Thursday's opener at Citi Field. The new closer, signed to a two-year, $12-million contract during the offseason, is suffering from patellar tendinitis in his left knee, and the bullpen might be in flux as the Mets wait for the results from Monday's MRI.
"Early in camp, I felt a little sore in there and it went away," Francisco said Monday morning. "In the last three days, I felt soreness in there again, but that's it. We're going to take care of that. I did my workout and everything, and it felt fine, but they're going to take a look at it."
The Mets had planned for Francisco to pitch Monday against the Braves at Disney World but scratched him from the two-hour trip north because of his achy knee. He had the knee drained Sunday.
"There's been days it's been fine and there's been days it's flared up all spring," Terry Collins said after the Mets' 8-2 win over the Braves. "They thought it would go away and it hasn't. Until we know what the MRI says, I don't know what else to tell you."
Francisco has a 5.54 ERA in 11 games, allowing 18 hits in 13 innings. He has walked four and struck out seven, and opponents have batted .333 against him.
Francisco last pitched Saturday in Jupiter, where he allowed two runs in two innings against the Marlins. After that game, Collins said Francisco is a veteran who would be sharp as soon as the "big lights" go on during the regular season. But that's when Francisco's knee issues became a bigger problem.
"The last game I pitched, the first inning was fine," he said. "But then, when I sat on the bench resting for the next inning, I felt like my knee got cold a little bit. I didn't feel like it was right. I didn't feel pain or anything. I just felt like swelling, I guess. I had some fluid."
Francisco said he isn't worried about going on the disabled list, but the Mets will need a contingency plan. The next likely candidates would be Jon Rauch and Ramon Ramirez, but neither has pitched well lately. Bobby Parnell has been one of the few spring training standouts in the bullpen, but the Mets are reluctant to make him the closer so soon after he struggled in that role last season.
"I haven't even got there yet," Collins said in regard to who might be next in line. "I don't know who it's going to be."
Parnell started Monday's game against the Braves and pitched three scoreless innings. He allowed two hits and struck out two without a walk. He has not surrendered a run in 121/3 innings in 11 appearances, striking out 10 and walking two.
Collins was asked if he would consider using Parnell as a spot starter, maybe if Johan Santana was unable to pitch, and the manager emphatically replied, "No." How about as a multiple-inning reliever? "Exactly," Collins said.
Perhaps the best Mets reliever in camp was Josh Edgin, who was demoted after Sunday's loss to the Tigers. Edgin, a 25-year-old lefthander, did not allow a run in 10 appearances and struck out 13 in 101/3 innings.
The Mets' plan is to use him as a closer in the minors to get more experience -- he hasn't pitched above Class A -- but Collins said, "We'll see him real soon."
