I have a hunch that Jose Mesa's appearance yesterday put him on the list of the top five worst post-season pitchers ever.
Let me be more precise: by making an appearance, he probably ranks in the top five post-season pitchers with the worst regular-season ERA for that year.
Now, this is just a hunch, but there are a lot of things pointing in that direction. First, a 7.11 ERA is horrible. And, thankfully for most teams, it's very rare. A 5+ ERA isn't so rare these days, nor even a low 6 ERA. But, above 7? Usually those guys are released or sent to the minors.
Second, most post-season teams have much better pitching than the Phillies. In fact, one of the only post-season teams with worse pitching than the 2007 Phillies, the 1995 Rockies, had only one pitcher with a 7+ ERA appear in the post-season - Mike Munoz. He had a 7.42 ERA for the season and yet amazingly appeared in all four of the NLDS games for the Rockies. He blew a save, lost a game, and gave up 2 earned runs in 1.3 innings.
The thing is, at least there was somewhat of a reason for Munoz's appearances: he was the Rockies' second lefty out of the bullpen (second to former Phillie Bruce Ruffin). With Mesa, there is no such excuse.
So here's my challenge readers: can you find others in the club of post-season pitchers with regular-season ERAs of 7+? I'm guessing the club has very few members other than Jose Mesa and Mike Munoz.