In St. Louis Jason Isringhausen is probably best known as the Cardinals' mercurial, unpredictable, but sometimes brilliant closer between 2002-2008. In New York he's remembered as a member of the Mets' vaunted, eventually tragic troika of pitching prospects in the mid-90s, dubbed Generation K. Having not pitched with the Mets since 1999 he returned on Monday as part of their bullpen shakeup, a 12-year layoff that's the longest in team history.
↵Isringhausen went two-thirds of an inning in his debut, bailing out Tim Byrdak after the lefty reliever allowed two baserunners while recording just one out. The new Isringhausen looked a lot like the last incarnation of the old one; he threw a fastball and/or a cutter that hovered around 90 miles an hour and mixed in that awesome knuckle-curveball once for a called strike.
↵He was a mess in 2006 and 2008, but when Jason Isringhausen was healthy he was a pleasure to watch, reacting to a loss in velocity from his Oakland days by relying heavily on a Dave Duncan-issue cutter. He's a ways away from being able to reach the 300-save mark he's been angling for since the end of his Cardinals tenure—he's seven away—but stranger things have happened to 38-year-old relievers, not to mention the New York Mets...