5
2011
From Left Field: Not The Injury Bug Again
An article by 
Shades of the 2009 Mets are already apparent here this season. Though that team was more talented on paper, it was ravaged by the injury bug which gave Jerry Manuel very little to work with on a day-to-day basis.
Well, it seems that injuries already have played a role this season.
Last year’s breakout player, Angel Pagan, is on the disabled list, though he will hopefully return shortly.
The Mets were forced to put their top reliever, Rule 5 draftee Pedro Beato, on the disabled list due to elbow tendinitis. That’s a tough blow for Beato, who was pitching some of the best baseball of his life.
Of course, the Mets are dealing with the absence of ace Johan Santana. Though there were good reports about his progress this week, he still has a long road ahead.
Injuries are part of the game, but the Mets seem to be cursed.
In 2006, one of the NL’s best setup relievers, Duaner Sanchez, was injured in a car accident that caused him to miss the remainder of the season. Would Sanchez have made the same pitch that Aaron Heilman made on the home run to Yadier Molina in the NLCS? We’ll never really know, but it would have been nice to at least put our best foot forward.
There have been few occasions over the last two seasons that the team has played completely at full strength. In a division including the Phillies, Braves and Marlins, a healthy team is the only way the Mets can compete.
The lineup is one thing, but just think if Santana was healthy.
He’d be the ace, while Mike Pelfrey would have less pressure on him as the No. 2. That would also push back R.A. Dickey and Jon Niese, with Chris Young and Chris Capuano providing rotation depth.
Pelfrey would still have to go out and compete even if Santana was there, but he probably would have benefited from Santana’s calming presence.
Once Pagan comes back, the team will have the makings of a contender, assuming everyone performs to their potential. The Mets have dug themselves a hole early, but nothing that can’t be overcome.
The days of seeing both Willie Harris and Scott Hairston in the same lineup should hopefully be over soon.
Follow me on Twitter @JMMancari.
About the Author: Jim Mancari
Jim Mancari hails from Massapequa, N.Y. He recently earned a Master's degree in Journalism at Hofstra University. He is a devout Mets fan and takes pride in his team, despite their lack of success over the last few years. Like all Mets fans, Jim has plenty of hope. He also writes as the sports reporter for the Brooklyn Tablet newspaper and the senior editor of metroBASEBALL Magazine. Click my name to view my personal website.
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You wrote: “Once Pagan comes back, the team will have the makings of a contender, assuming everyone performs to their potential. The Mets have dug themselves a hole early, but nothing that can’t be overcome.”
I find your optimism to be ludicrous, and your lack of baseball insight to be alarming.
Call my optimism whatever you want, but all it takes is for a team to get hot. Look at the Indians this year. They were the consensus pick for last place and look how they’re playing. Look at the Rockies from 2007. A middling team that got hot at the right time and wound up in the world series. It’s May. If this was July, then there’d be cause for concern.
A lot has to happen at the same and a prolonged period of time for them to compete but the team has the talent to do it, it just hasn’t yet.
When they hit they hit great but when they don’t they get shutout! This team is destined to give someone a no hitter sometime this season.
And when they pitch well it’s lights out pitching and then there are those batting practice days.
They have to get it ALL working and at the SAME TIME and sutain that for them to have a shot.
We will see it for a month like we did last year but they will need more than that for anything good to come of it.
And your lack of faith disturbing Obi Wan!
LOL
i think u just surpassed Annie as the worst writer on here with this piece of complete garbage and lies. “Contender”, did u really write that? jessep and chris will be proud, as for the fans that get it, and that is most as you see the stands at citi, wake up dude, the mets stink and have no shot at anything but 3rd place at best, thanks to the offseason of picking up recycled trash.
3rd place….hahahahahahahaha!! Maybe in the International League.
Whatever dude, part of the fun part of being a fan is having hope.
Hope of 3rd place?
Santana (old Santana) was a help to Pelfrey only in regards to he was more a power pitcher and made a nice change to pelfrey who is not about power pitches.
But I don’t know Pelf would have pitched any better if Santana was here.
And as someone else will point out the Phillies have injuries too and it hasn’t seemed to hurt them too much.
Pagan wasn’t doing much when he was healthy so maybe the time off will help him shake whatever bad habits he got into and come back fresh and more focused. But we will have to see about that.
Our real problem has been less about injuries and more about not getting the pitching AND the hitting to work at the same time.
When they hit the pitching gives those runs back up and we are forced to fight to stay in games and on the few occassions where the Pitching was solid and stingy the bats went to sleep. But you have to kind of expect that to happen as it did vs Halladay and Lincecum.
For this team to compete it needs at least one TRUE ACE to stop those 4 game losing streaks. The Mets have notoriously been good starting around Mid May and through June. usually after the first interleague games vs the Yanks.
If they go on a good run like they did last year this season might be salvaged but I personally don’t believe they have the pitching to do that and even if we did it is unlikely that we will have the bats in the lineup once the trading deadline approaches as most will be traded away.