I think Mesa was actually bad by the time we got him (even the first time). And Neris has never been close to as good as Mesa was in his peak years (brief though they were). I think when he has a crisis of confidence it's usually with good reason, i.e. if he just doesn't have his stuff, he's gonna walk guys with his out pitch and his fastball can be hit.
When I think of relievers in crisis I think of two seasons of Brad LIdge's career, or Ken Giles the year the Astros won the World Series. Happens to the best of 'em. Hector's just a pretty good reliever who's not prone to clean innings if he's not striking everyone out, and once he doesn't have a clean inning, bad things will happen occasionally.
Kapler and Klentak had the right idea last year, where Robertson and Seranthony would get some of the higher-leverage ABs if the more dangerous hitters came up in the seventh or eighth (Morgan too if necessary) and even pitch the 9th itself at times. It should have been a powerful tandem. Now, well... I'll take the occasional closer meltdown if we can actually get through the 5th-8th innings, which has been the bigger issue since Opening Day. Putting Alvarez into a game early instead of Austin Davis or Cole Irvin certainly helped last night, plus Parker's already an upgrade over Kelly and Pivetta for the moment.
