Today’s Links

Citi Field is looking a lot like a MASH unit these days, as the nagging injuries and those requiring a stint on the DL keep mounting.

To begin, Jose Reyes attempted to do some jogging before the game but announced he was not close to returning. The Mets now delay any decision for now, as they consider whether they should place him on the DL on Friday. Why wait? Is there any benefit to rushing him back? Put him on the DL and stop letting Manuel manage with a 22 man roster every night.

When last night’s game ended, the Mets 5-2 win was overshadowed by by a potential injury to centerfielder, Carlos Beltran. The ill advised slide into homeplate last night, may have aggravated the soreness in his right knee, and now he will require an MRI this morning to see what the source of the pain is. Matt Cerrone of MetsBlog posted a comment that said Carlos Beltran gets knocked for being soft, and Matt correctly adds that it’s not true, but the only places I’ve ever seen or heard Beltran get knocked for being soft is from a few scattered knuckleheads on his comments thread, or from the whacked out callers on sports talk radio. Incidentally, Beltran was 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI in the win over the Nationals on Monday night.

Speaking of MetsBlog, they have posted an update on Alex Cora’s thumb injury who will be evaluated today and a determination made on whether he needs surgery.

Ryan Church, who has already missed three games, looks like he will avoid the DL after an MRI on his right hamstring revealed no significant damage. However, it’s not clear how much longer he will be unable to play, and like Reyes it’s just another spot on the bench that kills Manuel’s ability to pinch hit and make defensive replacements as he would like.

Okay, now that we got the boring negative stuff out of the way, we do have plenty of positive things we can get stoked about.

To begin, quick answer this question… Who leads the Major Leagues in saves with thirteen of them?

That’s right, it’s our own Frankie Rodriguez… the same Frankie Rodriguez who was responsible for all the big crowds at your local bars, and a run of Alka Seltzer, Tums and Rolaids at your local drug stores over the weekend. He definitely put quite a scare into some of us with those back spasms. but as I correctly surmised, these things can disappear just as suddenly as they occur. K-Rod was a sight for sore eyes when he notched his 13th save last night against the Nats.

How does everyone feel about the Gary Sheffield signing now! Marty Noble has a great article today that looks at the amazin’ impact that Sheffield has made since becoming the Mets cleanup hitter last Friday. He writes,

Sheffield cranked his fourth home run of the season on Monday night, a three-run blast that broke a 1-1 tie and lifted the Mets to a 5-2 victory over the Nationals. It was the Mets’ third win in four games, a streak that coincides with Sheffield’s return to the lineup following a brief bout with food poisoning.

Let’s go to the video tape. For the third straight game, the Mets had to turn to instant replay to review some not so obvious homerun calls. And as Bart Hubbuch of the NY Post points out,

The 2009 Mets have their unofficial rallying cry. Cue Warner Wolf hollering “Let’s go to the videotape!” Fast becoming the kings of instant replay, the Mets last night got a sixth-inning call upheld that gave Gary Sheffield a three-run homer, the decisive jolt in a 5-2 victory over the Nationals at Citi Field.

Ken Davidoff believes the Mets are now in need of a trade to restock their depleted roster, and mentions guys like Matt Holliday and Jermaine Dye as possible targets. I’m not convinced that giving up a boatload for Holliday or Dye is the way to go. I still insist that we need to explore the F-Mart contingency before making any trades, though not everyone feels the same way I do. Andrew Beaton of Hot Foot writes,

It isn’t time for F-Mart yet. There are two primary reasons for this: his preparedness and the dearth of playing time he would receive.

As I wrote before, I want the Mets to call up F-Mart and to play him everyday. That’s the only way it can work. As for his readiness, his .889 OPS is much higher than other prospects who made the jump to the Majors and succeeded. In the same article in the Buffalo News which I cited on Saturday, they quoted AAA Buffalo Bisons manager, Ken Oberkfell,

“It’s phenomenal. Where would we be without him? The guy for 20 years old is just mature. He knows how to play the game. He doesn’t worry about [being called up]. He just goes out there every day and plays his game and whatever happens, happens.”  

Fernando Martinez is currently enjoying a spectacular streak that has him batting .350 in May with 6 homeruns, 18 RBI’s and 16 runs scored. His OPS during the streak is 1.115.

Today’s Quote

“Yeah, I felt tightness. I felt some discomfort, but it’s pretty normal – it’s only 48 hours since I had back spasms. After that, I was just trying to make pitches early in the count and trying to get people out.” Francisco Rodriguez

Today’s Trivia Question

In their history, the Mets have had four different second baseman bat leadoff on their opening day lineups. Who are the four second basemen?