Mets playing well despite key injuries

When you take a deep look at the six division leaders as of Monday, June 8, each team has had at least one key name player out of the lineup.

Beginning in the American League, obviously, the New York Yankees had Alex Rodriguez out all of April and much of May. In the Central, Detroit’s Jeremy Bonderman has had a rough road coming back, and star player Miguel Cabrera, who I believe is a future Hall-of-Famer, is currently nursing a hamstring injury.

Out West, the Rangers, who could be looked at as a surprise team, haven’t played with Josh Hamilton for a large part of the season and are also seeing minor shoulder issues with closer Frank Fransisco.

In the National League, Philadelphia, the NL East leaders, are without pitcher Brett Myers for three months. He began the season with a 4-3 mark. They also currently have Shane Victorino out on a day to day basis with a sore hip.

Milwaukee hasn’t pitched with its ace Ben Sheets all season, but with the production they are getting offensively, they haven’t missed him much. Finally, the Los Angeles Dodgers have played much of the season without Manny Ramirez for obvious reasons. Eric Milton, a starting pitcher that began his season with a 2-0 mark, is on the disabled list due to tightness in his back.

While all these teams have had big names out due to injury, they have still been able to overcome adversity and lead their respective divisions. However, no team in Major League Baseball has had the injury plague as bad as the New York Mets.

They aren’t division leaders as of yet, but they have held the lead at one point this season. The Mets, who are 30-25, are just three games back of the Phillies, and have about 48.6 millions dollars worth of players that are not currently on the field.

That is more than the salary of the entire Florida Marlins roster (36.9 million).

The biggest name of the list is Carlos Delgado. Delgado, who is due 12 million this season, was sidelined with the same injury that Alex Rodriguez had. The team is hoping that he will make a strong recovery, just in time to begin the second half of the season.

The second big name is Jose Reyes. Reyes was another Met having a good season, batting .279 with 11 stolen bases before putting it to rest because of a torn hamstring. Reports say that he will be out anywhere between two to six weeks, but a hamstring injury is not one to rush back.

The third big name is J.J. Putz, due six million this season. He was supposed to be one of the answers to the late inning problems the Mets had last season, but hasn’t pitched to his potential, mainly due to a bone spur that was recently removed from his throwing elbow. A 12-week recovery time should put the right hander back into the setup role just in time for the playoffs.

The final big name is Oliver Perez. This name bugs me the most, because there was such a big demand on signing him. Perez is now a 12 million dollar a year pitcher and he is 1-2 with a earn run average near 10. He is on the DL with a knee injury but I honestly think this is a blessing. Take time and figure things out.

Those are the four biggest names that are out, but let’s not forget the other lingering injuries that the team has. Carlos Beltran had a sore back early in the season, a sore wrist, and recently is recovering from the stomach flu. Also, John Maine is recovering from the stomach flu, and did not look impressive in his last start against the Washington Nationals last Saturday.

Gary Sheffield, who is the team’s third highest paid player making 14 millions this year, is nursing a sore hamstring as well. At his age (40), who knows how long that will take? As of right now, he is listed as day to day.

Billy Wagner has been injured all season and should be back in the bullpen sometime in September. He has an option for next year that the Mets have already said they will not pick up. If he comes back strong, he could be a good replacement for Putz as the setup man for closer Francisco Rodriguez. It could also place a good bid on teams looking at him next season. Outfielder Ryan Church was also hurt, but has recently made his return to the lineup.

Despite all the injuries and playing in New York, where fans was contenders right now, the team has battled adversity better than any other team out there. Santana is 7-3 and will put his record on the line tonight to kick off a three-game series with Philadelphia.

David Wright leads the team in batting average, RBIs and runs scored. Jeremy Reed, a player from the Seattle trade that brought Putz to New York, has been a good pitch hitter, and stepped up when Beltran and Church went down. Another surprise has been catcher Omir Santos, who is batting .261 since called up from Triple A Buffalo.

And even with Maine out, Santana is Top 5 in wins, ERA, and strikeouts. Livan Hernandez is 5-1 after a win Sunday.

Forget all the swine flue rumors. Things are on the up for the Mets, who I feel are the team to look out for heading into the All-Star break. If the team can get everyone back healthy and bring in just one more starting pitcher and maybe a power bat, it’s going to be on like Donkey Kong in the city of Flushing, Queens.