Thursday, March 1, 2012

The New Pilates Master

DILLON GEE - SP
2011 stats - 13 W, 6 L, 4.43 ERA, 160 2/3 IP

The 2011 campaign was the absolute definition of Jekyll and Hyde for Dillon Gee.  After getting a small taste of the big leagues in 2010, Gee started off last season in Triple A Buffalo but was called up to the bigs early on when Chris Young went down with an injury.  And he started with a bang!  Gee started his season with a clean 7-0 record and a 3.05 ERA.  He instantly was a breath of fresh air for the club and was being considered by some to be a dark horse candidate for the All-Star game.

Once the middle of June came around however, things seemed to fall apart for Gee.  Looking at the numbers, it wasn't all bad as he finished 6-6 and led the club with 13 victories.  However his ERA ballooned to almost four and a half and he was giving up more hits and walks per nine innings.  For Gee, it was a long season, the longest in his professional career to be exact.  The 160 innings he threw were by far the most he had ever thrown.

While recognizing that he tired down the stretch, part mental and part physical, Gee decided that he needed to work on his body and conditioning this off-season.  One of the ways he went about doing so was picking up Pilates to strengthen his core and to focus on muscles he never had before.

The Mets would be more than thrilled if they can get a repeat first half performance from their number five starter this season.  Without having the pressure of needing to step up and rescue the team, Gee has an amazing chance to be the quiet guy at the back of the rotation who slowly goes about his business.

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