Livan Hernandez was coming off of two terrible starts against the Dodgers and Phillies in which he gave up a total of 15 earned runs in 7.0(!) innings. It was thought his goose was cooked and that the team would bring up pitching prospect Jonathan Niese, who was tearing it up in Buffalo (1.00 ERA 33K in 36.0IP in 5 starts prior to the break). Jerry Manuel however (despite how foolish it may have seemed at the time), decided to keep his rotation as it was allowing everyone not named Santana a chance to compete for their spot.Livan Hernandez didn't disappoint his skipper last night, and did what he does best - beat up on bad, free-swinging teams. Against opponents with a losing record at the time he faces them (last night's game included) Livan is a pristine 6 - 0 in 10 starts with a 2.91 ERA. He maintains a solid 2:1 strikeout to walk ratio (42:21) and his WHIP is significantly lower holding at 1.26. Now of course it should go without saying that everyone should beat up on the bad teams. But unfortunately for the Mets the last few seasons (this year included cough Pirates cough), everyone doesn't.
Livan's next two starts project to be against Houston and Arizona, clubs he has had career success against and the latter of which is playing worse than our Mets. His third start however will be against the Cardinals, who have crushed him this season (0 - 2, 7.15ERA in 11.1 IP in his 2 starts against them). Until then though, it appears as though he will give our team a chance to win a couple of ballgames. As a fan that's all I can ask for anymore.
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