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Mets' Collins Concerned About 'Dead Arm' In Bullpen

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Mets manager Terry Collins is concerned that his bullpen is too tired -- and the season hasn't even started yet.

After the Mets' relievers were shaky in a 4-4 tie against the Washington Nationals on Sunday, Collins expressed some concern about his bullpen.

"It looks like the bullpen is going through a little dead arm," Collins said. "I don't quite see the quality of stuff that I saw a week ago. So that's certainly something we've got to keep an eye on."

"Dead arm," a term to describe fatigue, can be helped with rest. The Mets' season opener at Kansas City is six days away.

Collins said he has noticed a dip recently in the velocity readings for "a lot of guys" coming out of the bullpen.

"It's bothered me just a little bit watching the last couple of games where stuff just isn't as crisp as it needs to be," he said.

One example Collins mentioned was Jeurys Familia. The Mets' closer was solid Sunday, tossing a scoreless inning, but on Friday against St. Louis, he gave up three runs on four hits and two walks in just one-third of an inning.

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"The sink's not there right now," Collins said of Familia. "A week ago, he was unhittable. But the only thing I have to go on is that we've seen this in the past out of some guys. It reaches a part of camp where they just need to catch their breath a little bit."

Collins said in the final days of spring training, he prefers to condition his relievers for the season by using them like he plans to when the games count, including pitching them on back-to-back days or calling on them in certain late-inning matchups. But he might have to adjust his strategy this week.

"We are going to try to make sure everybody is rested so that when we start, they amp it up a little bit," he said.

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