Just about every team in the majors has to deal with injuries to at least one of its more contributive players, and we all know this. The baseball gods, however, love to torture us Mets fans in a way that should only be reserved for Baseball Joab (Bartman?). Let’s review the list of Met players that were injured or otherwise out of commission at some point in 2009, shall we?
- Carlos Delgado
- Jose Reyes
- Carlos Beltran
- John Maine
- Oliver Perez
- Alex Cora
- Angel Pagan
- Brian Schneider
- JJ Putz
- Billy Wagner
With an honorable mention to Ramon Martinez, since he was only a borderline professional ball player*.
When backups of backups of backups start going down, then you really know you’ve run into some bad luck, although we’d never get to know Omir Santos without Schneider being hurt, so it’s not all bad.
Still, the Mets have lost an exorbitant amount of important players, and what we’re left with is David Wright, Ryan Church, and the Buffalo Bisons. The timing could probably have been a little bit better too, as Beltran went down just as the team was entering a tougher part of their schedule (read: with series’ against the Cards, Yanks, Brewers, Phillies, and Dodgers coming up).
The Mets lost 4 straight series’ going into this week’s 4-game set against St. Louis, and what a roller-coaster of a series it was. After winning the first game, the Mets were completely shut down by a guy who still gives all us fans nightmares, Joel Pineiro. Confidence went from neutral to very low, until the Mets were able to come back and win the next 2, to take 3 out of 4 in the series.
It was after yesterday’s game that I started to think “why just tread water?” All we’ve been hearing from the media was how the Mets had to survive and keep above water until some of the missing key players came back, but that’s not how I feel. This is a golden opportunity for guys like Daniel Murphy, Fernando Martinez, and Nick Evans to show us what they’re made of, while David Wright has a chance to establish himself as the true leader of this team.
Murphy, after going 5 for 28 in the first half of June, has gone 11 for 34 since, and Evans has gone 3 for 7 with a 2-run homer and a big 2 RBI double in only 3 games. Hopefully, F-Mart and his .167 BA do some serious catching up.
As for David Wright? Without Delgado in the clubhouse, this is his opportunity to emerge as a clubhouse leader and the face of the team, so this might be a time when Met fans watch him take even more strides towards maturity. It’s just too bad Reyes isn’t around to be his Lieutenant.
It’s not exactly the popular opinion, but I think the next couple of weeks are 
going to be fun, if not bumpy. With surprising performances from Livan Hernandez, Tim Redding, and especially Fernando “Stop Calling Me Nieves” Nieve, and a lineup of young, hungry ballplayers, we might be seeing the birth of a scrappy bunch of Mets, and isn’t that what everybody’s been saying was missing from this team?
Buckle up.
*It’s been awhile since I got to take a jab at R-Mart. I was getting the itch.
Pete Lappin (3)
