According to our friend Adam Rubin in his Daily News blog, Gary Sheffield has become the latest Mets player to be placed on the disabled list. He will be replaced on the Mets roster by tonight’s starting pitcher, Jonathon Niese.
Sheffield hadn’t played since the July 18 game against the Braves, when he was taken out of the game with a leg cramp after chasing a base hit in left field. At the time, Sheffield thought the injury wasn’t severe. He had this to say when it happened:
“It’s pretty much a cramp. If I thought I pulled it, I probably would have been on the DL.”
Jerry Manuel kept insisting that Sheffield was available for pinch-hitting duties but never used him. As the days progressed without Sheffield in the starting lineup or being used as a pinch hitter, the decision had to be made, especially knowing that Jonathon Niese was being called up to replace Fernando Nieve in the rotation.
Fortunately, the Mets did not bungle this one by using Sheffield for an at-bat here and there. Because he hasn’t made an appearance since the injury last Saturday, the move can be made retroactive to July 18, meaning he can be activated next weekend when the Mets are playing the Diamondbacks at Citi Field.
The question is, will he be ready to be activated next weekend? Most of the Mets injuries this season have kept players on the disabled list far longer than originally expected. I can’t recall if any player has come off the disabled list after the minimum 15 days had expired.
According to Rubin, Sheffield still believed he could avoid a trip to the disabled list as late as this afternoon, but when informed of the team’s decision, he didn’t seem to be happy with the decision. In fact, he was quite blunt about his thoughts.
“Y’all talk to them about that.”
Sheffield now takes his team-leading 10 HR to the DL Hotel, where he’ll be sharing a floor with the likes of Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, Jose Reyes, John Maine, J.J. Putz and others. At the rate things are going, Albert Pujols will have more home runs this season than whatever lineup Jerry finds healthy enough to put together. Manuel should be a crochet expert by now with all the patchwork he’s had to do with the lineup cards.
Hopefully, this will only be a one-week stay for Sheffield on the disabled list and that once he checks out of the hotel, the rest of the team will follow.
*Mets Merized Online Needs Your Help*
yes, it is offical. I think Gary was mad about it, which is nice to see, but that will not help us much now will it.
The “muscle cramp” that just won’t go away?? Who wants to bet me that at the end of the week we find out that Sheff has some sort of a muscle tear.
Anyone? At least as the article states Manuel did not use Sheff to hit. However it doesn’t matter we all know that Sheff will be out a substantial amount of time. I’m guessing we’ll see Sheff. activated the last week in August. So, I guess, after a though physical examination and different kinds of MRI’s, scans, tests, etc etc nothing was found? What exactly is wrong with Sheff’s leg? Do the Mets even know? It’s bizarre! This enitre 2009 Met season is just very strange.
Sheffield himself didn’t think the injury was serious enough to warrant a trip to the disabled list, so I don’t expect him to be out for a month. Of course, if he does anything to aggravate the injury, that’s another story.
Gooe morning Ed,
I don’t think your not taking into consideration several things;
1. The Mets very recent history of mishandling? or not being honest about injuries.
2. What testing has been done? Can you name one other major league baseball player this year who has been out a week with a muscle cramp? And then needed to be placed on the disabled list when after a week the cramp has still not subsided?
3. Is there something going on here? Sheff. has a hx. of shall we say; feeling “not physically able to play” at times when he has been unhappy.
Sheff. has proven he can still provide punch. Sheffs contract situation makes him a very nice right right handed bat off the bench for a contending team. Is it a possibly that the Mets has signaled somehow that they are interested in including Sheff. in a deal and Sheff. became aware of this and…. “Ouch, it hurts! I can’t play.” Shrugs.. I know it’s a horrible thing to insinuate but unfortunately this would not be inconsistent with Sheff’s hisoty.
Sheffield does have a history of being unhappy and then feigning injuries (or at least the severity of the injuries), but none of that happened with him in a Mets jersey. When the Mets picked him up, some people questioned the acquisition, saying he’d be a cancer in the clubhouse and an injury risk. As soon as he became unhappy, he’d screw the team. So far, all I’ve seen from Sheff has been a fine leader who has put the team first. I haven’t heard as much whining from him as some people might have expected. In fact, his current complaint is that he thought he was well enough to play soon and then the team disabled him, whereas the opposite was true in the past.
I do agree with you about the team’s mishandling of injuries. It is odd that they had one diagnosis first that seemed to suggest a day-to-day situation and then it turned into a different diagnosis and a DL stint.
To use Mike Piazza’s favorite phrase in interviews, “it’s frustrating”. I’m a believer in Sheffield this year and don’t think that he’s revisiting his past history by claiming he’s hurt to avoid a trade, but that’s just my opinion. I could always be wrong.
Thanks Ed. I trust your judgment you seem to know what your writing about. Thanks for the great article! Keep them coming!