Author: Greg Pomes
The All-Star break is upon us and I have to say I'm happy to be done with the first half of the season. To say that the 1st half of the 2009 season has been difficult on Met fans would be the understatement of the year. The Mets are currently in 4th place in the National League East, they are 6.5 games back in the division with the Phillies in 1st, Marlins in 2nd place and the Braves ahead of the Mets by half a game.
Going into the season there were high hopes for this team. The demons from Shea Stadium were gone as the Mets were set to play in their new ballpark, Citi Field. Omar Minaya signed K-Rod during the winter meetings, days later he got rid of Aaron Heilman for 2 more bullpen arms in the form of Sean Green and J.J. Putz. The bullpen that was the downfall of 2008 was gone and the 2009 bullpen on paper look to have the best 1-2 punch in baseball with Putz setting up the game for K-Rod.
I felt the expectations were a little too high giving the lack of moves Omar made after getting the new bullpen. Omar did not correct the rotation, giving Oliver Perez a new 3 year contract worth $36 million the dollar, the front 4 of the rotation remained intact from the previous season with the addition of Tim Redding who would show up to Spring Training hurt and the Mets would have to put Redding on the disabled list, something the Mets would get a lot of practice doing in the coming months.
The lineup was the same from last season, with Daniel Murphy being named as the everyday left fielder. That experiment was a flop from the beginning. Murphy was a liability out there, costing the Mets several games. This offense that could not score more than 5 runs the last weekend of the 2008 season had trouble from the beginning with getting guys in from scoring position as well as scoring with 2 outs.
Then the injuries hit. Oliver Perez after having a horrible start to his season fresh off signing the new contract saw his .ERA go to almost 10. The Mets placed him on the DL, citing tendinitis in his knee. The next serious injury went to Carlos Delgado, part of the core injured his hip sliding into 3rd base, a slide that might have been unnecessary as Delgado looked to be safe. Delgado's injury at first was listed as day to day. Then word came from the Mets that Delgado would be in pain for the rest of the season but would play through the pain and might have to take a couple of games off here and there but he was not going on the DL according to the Mets. 2 weeks later the Mets put Delgado on the disabled list and announce that he would need surgery on his hip. It was said to be similar to the injury that A-Rod suffered, though we never got clear confirmation on that. Delgado's surgery was a success and the Mets said he would be back by August.
The next part of the core to go down would be Jose Reyes when he injured his calf. At first it was thought that Reyes' injury would be day to day but as would become the custom the Mets were wrong. Jose Reyes was put on the DL and in a rehab game he injured his hamstring.
Putting the nail in the coffin was the injury to Carlos Beltran. Beltran suffered a bone bruise on his knee and needed to rest. He got a shot and a week later was back out in center-field, continuing his great offensive season as well as flashing some leather in the outfield. Unfortunately the bone bruise was not getting any better and it forced Beltran to go onto the DL for an unspecified amount of time. The only positive was that the injury required rest and not surgery.
Besides the injuries to the core there were more injuries to come. J.J. Putz after several bad appearances and a shot to his elbow was put on the DL and required surgery to fix the problem. John Maine went down as well with a shoulder injury. It would not require surgery but he has yet to return to team and might not until the end of July.
It's hard to really judge the Mets this season considering all the injuries they have suffered during the 1st half of the 2009 baseball season. I cannot remember ever hearing about a team that lost 3/4 of their core, 2 of their starters and several backups to injury before June was over.
Of course I can judge some other factors such as Jerry Manuel. He has made many mind boggling decisions over the 1st half. There was the game against the Marlins when he took out Castro in the bottom of the 9th to replace him with Omir Santos who was working out in the bullpen. There was another game that before all the injuries took hold of the team Jerry Manuel put out his B lineup against Joss Johnson and pretty much forfeited the game to the Marlins. The way he has used Daniel Murphyy since Murph went over to first is just wrong. Murphy was playing everyday while he was in the outfield and he was costing the Mets games but when he moved to 1st and showed promise there he no longer plays Murphy everyday. Murphy gets on a hot streak and Manuel sits him. Murphy no longer bats against LHP's even though that was one of the reasons why the Mets wanted him in the majors.
The handling of the injuries have been not even bad but embarrassing. The Mets wait weeks before putting guys on the DL, they made them play through injuries, injuring themselves even more. The medical staff has done a horrible job diagnosing the injuries so much that Carlos Beltran went to a 2nd doctor on his own and paid out of his own pocket to get a 2nd opinion.
The lack of moves after the injuries have been startling. Omar Minaya is happy to just wait and see what happens if/when the guys return from the DL. Omar insisted that no trades were being made even though a player like Mark DeRosa was sent to the Cardinals for not much in return. Omar Minaya the other day said that he cannot replace talent like Reyes, Beltran and Delgado. Of course you cannot replace those guys with a trade but you can get the supporting players that would keep you in the race. I believe one more bat and the Mets would be in better position right now then they find themselves right now.
This season the Mets called up Fernando Martinez, the crown jewel of the farm system. He has been untouchable the last 4 years as the Mets regard him as the future of the franchise. Unfortunately at least in my view F-Mart has been underwhelming to say the least. He shows no discipline at the plate, his defense still needs work and lets not forget that he didn't run out the pop up when he first came up.
The offense has been having their troubles as well. The power has been non-existent up to this point so far in the season. David Wright only has 5 home runs. The team in general has no power. Wright has so far struck out 87 times. He is on pace to have 174 strikeouts if he continues in the 2nd half the way he's hit so far. The offense does not make any adjustments at the plate. They don't work the count in their favor.
This team does not play fundamental baseball. They attempt to catch pop-ups with one hand. They let balls go bay after miss-playing them.
Overall a very disappointing 2009 so far. The Mets have a lot to improve if they want to contend. There really is nothing to look forward to until the DL gets shorter but by that time without a big move it will be too late.
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