ESPN on the Johan Santana, Brad Lidge, and Matt Hawpe injuries.
Category: Spring Training
NY Post Tiring Of Mets Manager Jerry Manuel
I knew it wouldn’t be too long before a newspaper wrote a column about Jerry Manuel using them. As a matter of fact, I wrote about it last week. Manuel’s been working the media with his comments to his own ends.
But now the NY Post has had enough of it. Mike Battaglino wrote this post for their blog today. And I think it’s a self-serving indictment by a company that’s been used by Manuel since last June. The Post isn’t the only company that Manuel is using to motivate players, inspire confidence in others, and inform the fans and players of his methodology to manage the New York Mets.
Bart Hubbach of the NY Post even wrote a nasty post defending himself against everyone that said he misinterpreted last June’s “fetilizer” comment by Manuel. Adam Rubin of the Daily News and Keith Olbermann were named in the post by Hubbach.
Clearly, the NY Post as an organization has an axe to grind with Manuel’s style of speaking that can lead to sensational headlines by a paper like the post. Generally, I like the work that Hubbach does covering the Mets and it very well may be the editors that create the sensational headlines that we see. But in this case you have to be careful to understand the motivation that the Post would have to put this story on the back page.
I don’t think that Manuel has made communication gaffes. I think he’s a calculating speaker that uses the media to help generate the results from players and fans that he wants to see.
Video: Johan Santana Bullpen Session 3.1.09
You can see Johan Santana testing out his elbow during this bullpen session. If you go to the 9:30 mark of the video you can see Santana answer questions from the throng of reporters following him.
Mets Delay Santana’s Elbow Examination
Mets ace Johan Santana threw 35 pitches this morning at about 80-85% velocity. He reportedly felt fine afterward. But his trip to New York to have the injured elbow looked at was delayed due to the impending snow storm here in New York.
Pitching coach Dan Warthen and Santana seem to be at odds over the cause of the injury. Santana believes the aggresive throwing schedule that Warthen mandates caused the elbow pain. Warthen believes that Santana had an agenda to prepare himself for the World Baseball Classic caused the injury.
Either way, they just need to get Santana right at this point. After the throwing session today Santana told reporters (from NY Daily News):
“I felt fine. It’s the first time in the last four days that I threw, but I feel good. … As you throw more pitches, you feel better. That tells me we’re making progress and getting loose.”
As Omar Minaya told reporters, the important thing is that he felt good after throwing. Hopefully, he’s not trying to be a hero and telling the Mets that he’s fine when he’s not. Time will tell.
Mets Sending Injured Santana For Tests
Omar Minaya told reporters that Johan Santana is being sent to New York for tests on his left elbow. The early diagnosis has been that he has some tightness in his tricep ligament. The New York Post is reporting that the Mets are still allowing Santana to throw a light bullpen session this morning of 30-35 pitches.
If Santana is seriously injured, the move to allow him to continue to throw will be criticized to no end. This smells of the Mets lack of caution they displayed last season with Ryan Church. They flew him all over the country with the team and didn’t put him on the disabled list immediately after his second concussion of the season.
The importance of Johan Santana to the 2009 Mets can’t be understated. It’s hard for me to understand why they would let him throw again today.
Mets Eye Santana Bullpen Today
All eyes are on Johan Santana’s bullpen session this morning in Port St. Lucie. Jerry Manuel told reporters yesterday that he isn’t overly concerned yet about the situation. But the Mets are being cautious about their ace.
Even with the Mets exercising caution, Mets fans are extremely worried and rightfully so. I’m not sure that we can say the fate of the 2009 Mets rests with Santana’s tricep but that wouldn’t be too far from the truth. If he’s out for an extended period of time this season the Mets chances of making the playoffs will be seriously impacted.
We shouldn’t get too worked up until we know the extent of the injury. At the same time, we need to start bracing ourselves for the possibility of starting the season without our ace.
Video: Johan Santana Injury From ESPN
Here’s some video from ESPN’s Steve Phillips talking about the impact that Johan Santana’s injury could have on the Mets. He talks about everyone in the rotation getting bumped up a slot and the negative impact on the bullpen. Also in the clip is some information about Pedro Martinez trying to get a major league contract for 2009.
The Mets Report 