Tartans,
Like you, I believe Heilman will be fine. However, I must disagree with you...and everyone else who suggests that Willie Randolph misuses the bullpen. My argument is: what options does he have realistically when 4 out of 5 of the starters routinely fail to pitch beyond the 5th inning? The bullpen isn't misused. It's fatigued from having to clean up the mess of Oliver Perez, who tanked it versus the Pirates, John Maine, who threw 109 pitches...109!!! in 5 innings against the Cubs; Nelson Figueroa, who has been a revelation only because he hasn't pitched in the bigs in like 4 years and the league hasn't caught up to him yet; and Mike Pelfrey, who has been okay but not lights out by any stretch.
It's also no coincidence that Billy Wagner 'called out' Perez this week. Wagner understands that you can't keep parading your guys from the bullpen into games on a nightly basis. Your starters are expected to go at least 6-7 innings a start. The only one to do that regularly so far has been our $135 million dollar stud, Johan Santana; and even though in his last start he pitched like 5 1/3 innings against the Pirates, at least he battled and kept the Mets in the game. Oliver Perez walked like 5 guys in an inning, and everyone gets on Luis Castillo for making a key error and Jose Reyes for not covering second on a run down, but if your pitcher is throwing consistent strikes, your defense stays in the game. The Mets were down by 7 before anyone could get settled into their seats! How does one realistically expect an offense to power up against any major league team (even the lowly Pirates) when you're down 7 runs by the bottom of the second inning? That game reminded me of the last game of last season. The Mets weren't undone because of a lack of focus. They were 'out of it' because their starter didn't give them a chance from the outset to be in the game.
Let's be real Mets fans, stop the booing the team and calling for Randolph's head on a platter. The Mets aren't getting it done on the field for a variety of reasons. Pitching (starting and bullpen) and offense. When Ryan Church is your biggest offensive weapon when you have guys who talent-wise are exponentially better, there's a problem.
