Category: Injuries

Audio: Jose Reyes on Hamstring Injury

NEW YORK, NY - MAY 22: Jose Reyes #7 of the N...
Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Here’s a link to some audio from Jose Reyes talking to reporters about the hamstring injury he suffered during yesterday’s game against the Yankees. He hurt it running to first base in the first inning. Reyes stayed in the game for an inning before being replaced by Ruben Tejada.

Reyes tells reporters that the hamstring doesn’t feel too bad but he didn’t want it to “blow up” so he came out of the game. He may have chosen some odd words when he said that but, hopefully, it isn’t that serious.

There are so many implications that this injury can have on the Mets and Reyes from his impending free agency to the Mets plans at the trading deadline later this month. Reyes will be in for an MRI today, so we’ll know more soon about the severity of the injury and the direction that this could take the Mets and Reyes.

Join us at 7pm tonight for “Sunday Night Mets” as Kerel Cooper of On The Black and I talk to you and other Mets fans about the Jose Reyes injury.

Jose Reyes audio

Video: Mets Injuries, Santana, Beltran, Perez

NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 27: Johan Santana #57 of...

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Kerel Cooper of On The Black and I address the Johan Santana rumors about him not pitching in 2011 in this week’s video on the state of the Mets. We also talk about Carlos Beltran and his current status and the Oliver Perez move to the bullpen.

We talk about the effects on the team that the Santana and Beltran injuries could have for the season. Check out the video and let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

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Report: Mets’ Johan Santana Out For 2011 Season

Johan Santana won’t be back to pitch in 2011 according to a report in The Record by Steve Popper and Bob Klapisch. The report states that Santana’s throwing sessions haven’t gone well and that the Mets are considering pulling the plug on his rehab and re-evaluating the work that he should be doing at this point.

Originally, Santana was supposed to be doing rehab from his left shoulder surgery last September with an eye towards return in early July. Santana himself even reiterated that timetable in a Feb. 17 radio interview with Mike Francesa of WFAN New York.

The Mets already thin starting rotation is pretty much in shambles without Santana coming back this season. Let’s face it, nobody wants to see Chris Capuano getting 30 starts this year and that’s the painful reality of today’s news.

You never know how a season is going to go for a team before it starts. I think most people are predicting the Mets finishing third or fourth in the NL East. And I believe that’s a fair assessment of the team and the division. Without Santana, the team’s best player and highest paid player not pitching at all in 2011 those predictions could be lowered. It’s going to be a sad state of affairs for this team going through the fourth year of a seven year contract without Santana pitching at all.

In addition, Mets ownership can’t be happy with the prospect of Santana’s $22.5 million salary going up in flames either, considering their financial situation. Presumably, the Mets have insurance for all or a portion of Santana’s salary in case of injury. But given this ownership group, I wouldn’t put it past them to be forced to swallow the whole salary because of a bad insurance policy.

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Carlos Beltran Begins Final Season with Mets

Carlos Beltran

Image by tedkerwin via Flickr

In Port St. Lucie today, Carlos Beltran is scheduled to make his spring training debut against the Red Sox as a designated hitter. His achy knee still isn’t well enough to play the field more than a year removed from surgery that the Mets didn’t authorize. Today begins the seventh and final season of Beltran’s run with the Mets that has gone from disappointing to exhilarating and back to disappointing again. Most seven year contracts will have their up’s and down’s but this one has been a wild ride. The final season of that long-term contract begins with serious question marks about how effective Beltran can be, especially in the field. Beltran already deferred to Angel Pagan in center field, moving to right field. The last time he played a game in right was in 2000 with the Royals.

I haven’t talked to any Mets fan that makes an argument that Beltran will, or should, be back with the team next season. Frankly, I don’t think he’ll be with the Mets for the entire 2011 season despite his full no-trade clause. The Mets financial situation combined with Beltran’s $18.5 million salary and dim prospects for a playoff berth should lead the new “All-Star” front office to do everything they can to trade Beltran during the season. Probably sooner than later.

Year Age Tm G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
2005 28 NYM 151 650 582 83 155 34 2 16 78 17 6 56 96 .266 .330 .414 .744
2006 29 NYM 140 617 510 127 140 38 1 41 116 18 3 95 99 .275 .388 .594 .982
2007 30 NYM 144 636 554 93 153 33 3 33 112 23 2 69 111 .276 .353 .525 .878
2008 31 NYM 161 706 606 116 172 40 5 27 112 25 3 92 96 .284 .376 .500 .876
2009 32 NYM 81 357 308 50 100 22 1 10 48 11 1 47 43 .325 .415 .500 .915
2010 33 NYM 64 255 220 21 56 11 3 7 27 3 1 30 39 .255 .341 .427 .768
NYM (6 yrs) 741 3221 2780 490 776 178 15 134 493 97 16 389 484 .279 .366 .499 .864
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 3/6/2011.

A reasonable expectation in 2011 is for Beltran to play as well as possible for a 34 year-old outfielder rehabbing a major knee surgery. Unfortunately for Beltran, this happens to be a contract year. Don’t feel sorry for him though, he’s made about $116 million in his career to this point. So I think he’s pretty well set financially. MLB Trade Rumors posted a good piece this week about this being a make or break year for him. And it is.

If you look at Beltran’s career as a whole, he’ll have spent his prime years with the Mets. He spent seven years with the Royals and he’ll spend six and a half or seven with the Mets. The bulk of the statistics he’s accumulated during his career came with the Mets. Beyond the Box Score did a good comparison of how he compares to some of the top center fielders in history. If he continues to play fairly well until age 40, he should be on target statistically for enshrinement in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He would likely go in as a Met. That would be ironic for a player that had a hard time adjusting to New York by underperforming in 2005, offered to take less money to play for the Yankees, and is best known for the 2006 NLCS watching strike three from Adam Wainwright. That’s the paradox of Beltran’s Mets career.

Johan Santana Shoulder Injury Raises Questions

New York Mets starting pitcher Johan Santana throws a pitch to the Colorado Rockies in the fourth inning of their MLB National League baseball game in New York, August 12, 2010. REUTERS/Ray Stubblebine (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT BASEBALL)

http://view.picapp.com//JavaScripts/OTIjs.jsWell, its that time of the season. Johan Santana has once again, for the third season in a row, been shut down and will need surgery during the off season, this time on his left shoulder. A suitable punctuation to a season highlighted by lackluster play, managerial blunders, and an overall lack of organizational accountability. Of course, this type of grim reality for the ace of a pitching staff can only exist within one franchise, the New York Mets.

Along with agony and disappointment, news of Santana’s most recent injury raises a lot of questions:

Why does the Mets’ medical staff continue to be inept?

Since being acquired prior to the ’08 season, Santana has had some kind of injury/surgery every year. First it was his knee issue, last year he had bone chips in his elbow. What other star player in the league has experienced this type of string? I can’t think of any off the top of my head. I’m no doctor, but I would have to imagine that part of correcting an injury is identifying the measures to prevent future problems. By now, I would have expected that the medical and training staffs have come up with a plan for protecting Santana’s arm. Unfortunately, this has not been the case. This apparent ineptitude has affected other players on the team as well. You have to figure that free agents around the league are probably wary of exploring opportunities with the Mets because of their seemingly shabby and, for lack of a better word, mysterious medical staff. Continue reading “Johan Santana Shoulder Injury Raises Questions”

Video: Jason Bay Talks Return to Mets

New York Mets Jason Bay (R) is congratulated by teammate Jeff Francoeur after scoring a run against the San Francisco Giants during the 10th inning of their MLB National League baseball game in San Francisco, California July 18, 2010. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT BASEBALL)

http://view.picapp.com//JavaScripts/OTIjs.jsLast night Jason Bay was at Citi Field talking to reporters before the game against the Astros. He’s been out for about five weeks with concussion symptoms from his wild catch into the wall in Los Angeles more than a month ago.

Bay has finally been cleared to start working out and he’s hoping to play again this season. But it doesn’t seem possible that he could start working out, then start baseball activities, and then play in rehab games before the end of the season.

Check out the video from ESPN below of Bay talking about his symptoms and trying to come back.

http://espn.go.com/videohub/player/embed.swf

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K-Rod’s Injury A Blessing In Disguise?

New York Mets pitcher Francisco Rodriguez is escorted by police for his arraignment on assault charges at Queens Criminal Court in New York August 12, 2010. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT BASEBALL CRIME LAW IMAGES OF THE DAY)

http://view.picapp.com//JavaScripts/OTIjs.jsTwitter is hinting about the possibility the Mets will be able to void K-Rod’s contract. This is the first good news I’ve heard all week! Not only is he owed $11.5 million next year but the Mets also get the chance to eliminate a problem in the clubhouse and on the field.

Statistically speaking, I have always felt the closer position was the most overrated position in baseball. Correct me if I’m wrong but the average Major League pitcher will normally get out 70% of the batters they face. In the 9th inning, for every 5 batters a closer would face they technically can give up 2 hits and get 3 outs to earn the save. Is this really a tough job? Continue reading “K-Rod’s Injury A Blessing In Disguise?”