Mets Bringing Young Arms Along Slowly

The Mets are taking things slowly with youngsters Mike Pelfrey and Philip Humber. Though the Mets are in obvious need of starting pitching help, they are holding firm to the idea of protecting their top two pitching prospects. As a result, neither is likely to begin the season with the big club, though owners will want to keep Pelfrey in mind as a potential early season callup. The 6-foot-7 fireballer showed promise over his four Major League starts in 2006, and general manager Omar Minaya believes he’s capable of being stretched out to 160-170 innings this year. Humber should also surface at some point during the summer, but the Mets are likely to be even more cautious with him as he threw just 78 1/3 professional innings in 2006, his first season back from Tommy John surgery.
Source: MLB.com