Many smart people have devoted countless hours to analysing all aspects of baseball over the years.\u00c2\u00a0 They have challenged preconceptions and conceived wisdom, attempting to strip away the vagaries of luck to reach clear conclusions based on solid evidence.\u00c2\u00a0 I find much of it interesting and thought-provoking, but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m afraid the Mets\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 2009 season has forced me to divert from their considered path for some answers.<\/p>\n
Sorry: there is no other explanation that I can accept. Omar Minaya must have walked under a ladder outside Citi Field on Friday 13th<\/sup>, before breaking a mirror while opening up an umbrella once he got inside their new ballpark.\u00c2\u00a0 He probably knocked over a salt shaker as well for good measure.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/p>\n As an A\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fan, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve become well-versed in seeing a team torn apart by injuries over the past few seasons.\u00c2\u00a0 Eric Chavez alone has been the cause of more \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcnearly back to 100 per cent\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 comments and painful setbacks than some MLB teams have endured for their entire rosters in a whole year.\u00c2\u00a0 However, the Mets have been hit shockingly hard<\/a> this year to the point of disbelief.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n The core of the Mets’ roster matches up against any team in the Majors. They have a multiple Cy Young winner in Johan Santana leading the rotation and build their offense around Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, Jose Reyes and David Wright.\u00c2\u00a0 Tune into a Mets game right now, as I did for their early game against the Cubs on Friday evening, and you will not see any of them on the field.\u00c2\u00a0 All five are on the DL.\u00c2\u00a0 Imagine the Phillies without Hamels, Howard, Utley, Rollins and Werth.\u00c2\u00a0 Or the Yankees without Sabathia, Jeter, Texeira, A-Rod and Cano.\u00c2\u00a0 Every team has to cope with injuries over the course of a season, but no team can cope with losing the core of their roster.<\/p>\n Delgado and Reyes were the first to depart the scene and in both cases their scheduled returns have been hit by setbacks. Carlos Delgado went down in mid May with a torn labrum in his right hip and the first baseman strained his right oblique<\/a> during his rehab from surgery.<\/p>\n Jose Reyes was next in late May with what was said at the time to be a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153slight tear\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in his right hamstring tendon.\u00c2\u00a0 He has suffered a series of setbacks ever since and there doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t appear to be an end in sight.\u00c2\u00a0 The New York Daily News claimed this week that Reyes has actually ruptured the tendon and will need surgery, although in response to the reports the Mets so far have only confirmed<\/a> that surgery is a possibility.<\/p>\n Carlos Beltran is currently working his way back from a bone bruise in his right knee<\/a>. He played in pain for a month after taking a cortisone shot (ala Freddie Flintoff) but the bruising just got bigger and he ended up on the DL in late June.\u00c2\u00a0 While it would make sense for him to call it a season, Beltran wants to return to the field.<\/p>\n David Wright<\/a> is another guy who has to be told to take a rest, but it surely makes sense to be patient with his recovery from a concussion.\u00c2\u00a0 I still flinch every time I see the footage of Matt Cain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 94 MPH fastball cracking off Wright\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s helmet and the third baseman falling to the floor.\u00c2\u00a0 He could sit out the rest of the year, but Harold Reynolds made the point\u00c2\u00a0in a video on\u00c2\u00a0MLB.com that if he is healthy enough to get back on the field, it might be best from a psychological standpoint that he faces Major League pitching again as soon as possible.<\/p>\n Wright may have a personal reason to return to action in September, but the Mets\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 season is over.\u00c2\u00a0 That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one of the reasons why Johan Santana has gone off to have surgery to remove bone chips<\/a> from his left elbow.\u00c2\u00a0 Get the operation out of the way and get him back for Spring Training 2010.\u00c2\u00a0 September 2009 isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t going to count for much, not least because they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve lost plenty of other players to injuries as well.<\/p>\n John Maine hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t pitched since the start of June due to soreness in his right shoulder.\u00c2\u00a0 Thankfully recent examinations<\/a> have shown that there is no structural damage and the pitcher is on course to be back on the mound this season.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0However, one bit of good news is always followed by bad with the Mets this season. JJ Putz had three rough outings in a row at the end of May and start of June before he landed on the DL<\/a>.\u00c2\u00a0 He had \u00e2\u20ac\u0153surgery to remove a bone spur and fragments of bone from the back of his right elbow\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and the Mets announced that he would return for their series in Denver next week, only for an MRI to reveal<\/a> a slight tear in his ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow.\u00c2\u00a0 He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s now done for the season.<\/p>\n Oliver Perez will have surgery on his right knee. Jeff Francoeur is having surgery to repair a torn left thumb ligament.\u00c2\u00a0 The list goes on and on.<\/p>\n No doubt numerous studies will be undertaken to try and pinpoint why the Mets have suffered so many injuries this season.\u00c2\u00a0 I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sticking with the bad luck story.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n