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Looper
Topic Started: Sep 28 2005, 11:07 PM (46 Views)
Gategem
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RHP Braden Looper, who leads the Mets with 28 saves, will have surgery Monday on a joint in his right shoulder


Looper claims that the problem with the shoulder prevented him from having the consistency he needed to be effective. Is he worth a gamble? Only at a reduced price as a setup man. But the club will have Heilman who could be the setup man for next year. So it may be good bye to Looper.
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timotime
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No. It's not like has any ties to NY or the Mets. No reason to take the chance.
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Gategem
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PHILADELPHIA -- The Mets stripped Braden Looper of the closer's job last week, but yesterday's revelation that he will have shoulder surgery as early as Monday suggests the club may have acted too late.

In fact, Looper has been bothered by a damaged AC joint in his right shoulder since the end of last season, and chose to forgo the relatively minor operation because he didn't want to miss the start of this year. Given the ragged state of the bullpen, the Mets figured they couldn't afford to lose Looper early on, but the decision caught up to them when he imploded in the past month.

Looper converted 28 of 36 chances overall, but suffered blown saves in his last three opportunities before manager Willie Randolph demoted him for Roberto Hernandez and Aaron Heilman. Looper never let on that his shoulder was hurting, and neither did the Mets, until he admitted yesterday that he was scheduled for an MRI today and likely would have the operation done by team orthopedist David Altchek on Monday.

"It has been something I've been dealing with all year," Looper said before last night's 16-6 loss to the Phillies. "It just got to the point where I've got to get it looked at and fixed."

The Mets knew they needed bullpen help for a serious playoff push this season, and general manager Omar Minaya tried unsuccessfully to do so before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. By then, Minaya had few options other than Looper, with Heilman still unproven in that role and the 40-year-old Hernandez not durable enough to use on a daily basis. Plus, Looper refused to use the shoulder condition as an excuse.

"We knew sometimes he felt discomfort," Minaya said. "But he always asked for the ball. I think that this late in the year, most guys are a little banged up. There were never signs from him that he was really hurting. That never got to my ears."

Hearing Looper describe the sensation inside his shoulder made it sound like pain was an issue. The problem was caused by two bones rubbing together, and Looper said it felt like "having a quarter-inch rock in your shoe and running with it all the time." The condition got progressively worse during the season, and Looper noticed it most when trying to "finish" his .pitches.

So instead of throwing a sinker that dropped sharply to a hitters' shins, the pitch stayed up in the zone.

"Everyone pitches with a certain amount of discomfort," manager Willie Randolph said. "We have medical reports every day and Loop never said anything about not taking the ball. He was my closer and he said he was fine."

Looper is not a dominant strikeout pitcher like many closers, relying more on his sinker to get ground-ball outs, and that often gets him into trouble when those bouncers find holes. He had 29 strikeouts in 591/3 innings this season, and the most alarming number is that teams batted .271 against him, with lefthanders hitting .336 (39-for-116).

But how much of that can be attributed to his shoulder issues? Last season, Looper converted 29 of 34 chances with 60 strikeouts in 831/3 innings, and opponents batted .266 against him. Maybe that's just Looper being Looper, a setup man who has never really thrived in the closer's role. He insists that's not the case.

"You go out there and give whatever you've got," Looper said. "I knew I gave 100 percent. It might not be the same 100 percent as last year, but it was what I had."

The Mets are probably reluctant to see more of Looper next season, especially with the $5-million price tag on his option for 2006.

Instead, Minaya will be in the market for hard-throwing free agents Billy Wagner and B.J. Ryan, with Heilman strictly a fallback option. If Looper wants to come back at a greatly reduced rate, in a setup role, maybe the Mets will have him back.

"If Mariano Rivera was closing for the Mets, and they'd want me to set up, I'd set up," Looper said. "It's something I'd definitely be willing to talk about with Omar as long as they treated me the way I wanted to be treated."

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VICTORious
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this explains a lot

he really did look in pain when he was pitching
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napes
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I thought he looked in pain while pitching too, but I thought that was his normal awkward face.

Injured or not, right handers only hit .210 off him all season. The fact of the matter is that he cannot get lefties out. In fact, that stat has been consistent his entire career. Righties have hit .229 against him over his career and lefties? - .308. He would be a great closer if there was no such thing as left handed batters.
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Njdevils350
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Short memories with you guys. He was unhittable last season...buyt what the hell should I expect, you all wanted to burn Glavine at the stake in May.

The injury kept his fastbalkll at 90-92 all season instead of 96-98 and effected his location. Bring him back
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TheOne
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Looper is garbage, i never want to see him in a met uniform again, injury or not he's soft, let him sign with some other f*cking team!!!
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Njdevils350
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TheOne
Sep 30 2005, 01:57 AM
Looper is garbage, i never want to see him in a met uniform again, injury or not he's soft, let him sign with some other f*cking team!!!

foolishness.

He lost 5 MPH on the fastball cause of the injury, it would make anyone ineffective
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champ4life

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Depends on how much. You can never have too much depth in a bullpen. If the price is right, I'd bring him back. But I'd still like to see Wagner here.
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TheOne
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champ4life
Sep 30 2005, 09:43 AM
Depends on how much. You can never have too much depth in a bullpen. If the price is right, I'd bring him back. But I'd still like to see Wagner here.

I like the idea of having Padilla, Hernandez and then Wagner coming out of the pen next season, forget about Looper, he's not worth any kind of contract!!!
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