After His Remarkable Return, Trachsel Lands in the Bullpen

By BEN SHPIGEL
Published: August 29, 2005

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 28 - Steve Trachsel's reward for pitching eight scoreless innings Friday in his first start in 11 months was a spot in the bullpen.


Trachsel said he was shocked when Manager Willie Randolph and the pitching coach Rick Peterson told him before Sunday's game that he would not make another start until further notice. He added that he "understood things are being worked out" between his agents, Sam and Seth Levinson, and General Manager Omar Minaya, although he would not elaborate.

Trachsel said he had not asked for a trade. Asked if he still wanted to play for the Mets, he said he needed to talk to people before announcing his intentions. "When I get on the bus, I'll make some phone calls, and we'll see what happens," Trachsel said.

Minaya said neither Trachsel nor his agents had requested a trade.

"The agents and I have been in contact for, you know, since he was almost back," Minaya said. "I can understand his situation. Steve clearly wants to participate. That's nothing out of the ordinary. He may not pitch in the normal five-day turn, but I'm pretty sure it hasn't been decided what will happen the next time around."

That, however, apparently does not make Trachsel feel any better. Before his outing Friday night, he had not pitched in the major leagues since Sept. 28, 2004.

When approached after the Mets' defeat Sunday, Trachsel initially said that he did not want to talk about his "situation, crisis, whatever you want to call it." But he returned to his locker a few minutes later and tried to make sense of where he fits with the team.

The Mets already had five healthy starters, so Trachsel's return created a logjam in the rotation. Randolph reiterated his reluctance to use a six-man staff down the stretch, and Trachsel, not Victor Zambrano, who will start Friday in Florida, is the odd man out. Kris Benson and Jae Seo will follow Zambrano.

"He threw the ball well last time out and won the ballgame," Randolph said of Zambrano.

"He's been doing this all year, pitching relatively well for the most part. I challenged him to step up and do a job for me. He did, and he gets the ball."

Trachsel will be available for the three-game series against Philadelphia that begins Tuesday, but Randolph said that he was hesitant to insert Trachsel, who has pitched one and two-thirds innings of relief since reaching the majors in 1993, in any situation other than an "extreme emergency."

Last Monday, when Trachsel was activated from his rehabilitation assignment, Randolph told reporters that Trachsel was headed to the bullpen and would pitch sparingly. Then Trachsel was told Tuesday that he would start Friday, when he no-hit the Giants for five and two-thirds innings.

"I guess I should have pitched a no-hitter," Trachsel said, chuckling.

Any teams looking to add Trachsel to their rotation for the playoffs must work fast; players added to rosters after Wednesday are not eligible for the postseason, although an exception could be made to fill the spot of an injured pitcher.

Randolph said Trachsel's demotion did not end his chances of starting again this season.

"I think he could," Randolph said. "I have a good feeling he might."

But Randolph has expressed a desire to let Pedro Martínez and Tom Glavine pitch every fifth day, and he will not remove Seo or Benson.

If the rotation holds, Martínez and Glavine will pitch the first two games of the series at Atlanta that begins Sept. 5, and Zambrano would start the finale.

"The impression that I got was that my next start, if I get one, won't be for quite a while," Trachsel said.