Injuries Will Be A Test Of Their Met-tle

Yesterday looked to be another bleak day in Metsville when news broke that Carlos Beltran was headed for the 15 day disabled list with a progressively worsening bone bruise. As if to add an exclamation point to the bewildering number of injuries that have plagued this team this year, word then gets out that Jose Reyes and trainer Ray Ramirez were in a car accident earlier in the day. Even more ironic is the fact that they were headed to the Hospital For Special Surgery when it happened. Thankfully, no one was hurt but the level of ridiculousness here is just a little spooky.

Since the season began almost half of the Mets’ roster has been plagued by injuries. Missing most notably are Jose Reyes, Carlos Delgado and J.J. Putz, but the absence of all of the players that have succumbed to one malady or another has played a huge role in where this team stands right now. It is by no means the sole reason the Mets are currently floundering, but it definitely plays a significant part in their June swoon.

Losing Delgado and Reyes have been the two most difficult of the injuries to overcome, but Putz, even though he was not pitching well when he went down, was a huge loss in the sense of how the rest of the bullpen has been overused. You can almost directly attribute all of last week’s losses to Putz’s absence.

Now, with Beltran down for 15 days or more, these next few weeks become the real test as to whether the Mets can hang in there until their many walking wounded return. Last night’s game was an encouraging sign that maybe, just maybe, this team can get it together and survive their DL blues. Kudos to Tim Redding for pitching 7 innings and getting his first win as a Met. It was not his best outing run-wise but aside from the home runs by Ryan and Ludwick, he was in control of the game.

On the offensive side, for the first time in a while, pretty much everyone contributed. The highlights were Daniel Murphy’s 2 for 5 night, including a home run, and Luis Castillo’s 3 for 3 night. Also notable was the fact that they made no errors and essentially played solid fundamental baseball against the blazing hot Cardinals, who had just swept the Royals over the weekend. Pretty nifty!

Whether or not the Mets can sustain the momentum from last night’s game remains to be seen but the fact is, even with this hodge-podge roster of subs, if they expect to stay in the race until the regulars return, they are going to have to step it up a notch. That means good starting pitching (preferably six innings or longer), clutch hitting, good fundamentals and team work. Do the little things right. Like actually catching routine pop-ups, stepping on third base, hustling to first and knowing how to lay down a bunt. Some clutch hits with the bases loaded would also be much appreciated, thank you. Play small ball until the big boys return and play as a team and the results might just surprise everyone. And let’s face it, after the last three years, every Mets fan could use a nice surprise. Here’s hoping that after a June of rain, doom and gloom the sun will start peaking out through the clouds over Flushing some time soon. Ok, I rhymed…time to stop now before I jinx everything.