Frank Francisco will keep his job as Mets closer, manager Terry Collins said before Monday’s game with the Brewers.
“Yes, for the moment,” said Collins, who added there wasn’t anything physically wrong with Francisco. Collins said the closer would work on his mechanics with pitching coach Dan Warthen and that the team had video proof that he was tipping his pitches.
“I’m not sure, I might be. I’ve got a couple of (things) that I want to change, but I’m not sure. But I’m going to change it just in case. I saw a couple of things (on video). I’m not 100-percent sure, but we’ve got to do something about it,” said Francisco, who added that the faith Collins has shown in him just helps his own psyche.
“I think he does. It helps a lot, he gives me a lot of confidence. We never know what’s going to happen, but I think he’s doing the right thing, because I believe. First I believe in God, and then I believe in me. I can do the job; just things aren’t going my way right now. But whatever happens, happens; I’m here to help the team to win.”
Collins would not commit to Francisco on Sunday night after he gave up three runs to the Marlins without recording an out in the ninth inning of the 8-4 loss. It was the second game in which Francisco had coughed up ninth-inning leads over the weekend in Miami. But Collins said he believes flip-flopping the relievers after every bad outing will do more harm than good. Jon Rauch has been solid as Francisco’s setup man with a 2.98 ERA and three holds so far this season.
Francisco’s rough weekend raised his ERA to 8.56 in his first year with the Mets after signing a two-year, $12 million deal in the offseason. Collins said the Mets are planning two changes for Francisco: After watching video, the Mets found evidence that the closer was tipping his pitches. The second change Collins did not want to elaborate on.
“I am not in the business of giving out scouting reports,” Collins said.
Francisco, who screamed at home plate umpire Todd Tichenor after being removed on Sunday, said that he talked with Collins and the fact that his manager had confidence in him helped. Francisco said he saw the video of him tipping pitches and was going to make changes.
Francisco had a problem tipping his pitches early last season with the Blue Jays, which he corrected.