How Long Is The Rope?

Dan at Hotfoot, writes about Mike Pelfrey and how much leeway Willie Randolph has allowed him so far this season:

In the comments section the other day the question of how much rope does Willie give to Pelfrey, before he eventually gets the pull. An interesting question, especially after todays game, and one I'm willing to take a stab at.

The short answer: a lot.

Pelfrey earned the fifth spot by outperforming Chan Ho Park, and others, in spring training, but since then hasn't exactly distinguished himself. But there's a lot of other things to consider. First of all, the team itself is winning. The Braves are the only team that seems to have caused a major problem, as they've pretty much beaten up on the rest of the competition. When you're winning 65% of your games, many by large margins, how concerned should you really be about the young fifth starter. As long as Glavine, El Duque and Maine are holding up, we can afford to lose games behind Pelfrey. He needs the experience, and as much as we'd prefer the wins, we can live without them. Its April. If its July and things are getting tighter and he's still not pitching, well thats another story.