Injuries Are Biggest Problems For Mets Right Now

Forget dropped fly balls and late game rallies; the biggest problem for the Mets, what could derail an entire season, is injuries.

Everywhere you look the Mets have a scrub starting. It all began with Delgado earlier in the season who went down with his hip problems. Then came Oliver Perez (although he wasn't pitching so well leading up to the DL-stint). The big blow came when Jose Reyes came down with a hamstring tear and J.J. Putz went in for elbow surgery. Now John Maine has found his way on the DL with shoulder pain. Talk about ripping the nucleous out of a team.

It is not just the key guys who are getting injured but their backups are going down. Alex Cora, Reyes replacement, has gotten banged up. As well as Ramon Castro, who is filling in for the injured Brain Schneider behind the plate.

The Mets have been searching for plugs all over the place. Livan Hernandez, their preseason #5 starter is #3 in the rotation. Alex Cora is their regular starter at short. 20 year old rookie Fernando Martinez is getting time in the outfield. Bobby Parnell is playing set-up man. And the Mets are getting their money's worth out of the 40 year old Gary Sheffield.

Shef, who has been in the majors since 1988 said that this is the worst injury problem he has ever seen on any of his 8 ballclubs. Unfortunetly, help doesn't seem to be arriving anytime soon. Even when these guys comeback it is not like flipping a switch. You can't just all of a sudden start winning ball games. The Mets just have to try and stay afloat... somehow limp their way to when these stars start coming back.

Castillo Costs Mets the Game

You will learn quickly that I am indeed a Mets fan and not a Yankee fan (although I appreciate good baseball) so when Luis Castillo blows a game like he did last night it makes me want to crawl up in a hole and watch women's basketball or something.

So lets set the stage for this absurd blunder. David Wright, who is absolutely carrying the Mets this year, hits a clutch double in the 7th to give the Mets a one run lead. K-Rod, Mr. Celebration himself, is on in relief in the 9th inning. Things get hairy with two runners on and A-Rod at bat. But with two outs K-Rod gets the juicer to pop up to Luis Castillo. Routine fly... game over... right?

Ya not with Luis Castillo out there limping around the infield. He botches the play and the Jeter and Teixeira come around to score. Give credit to Jeter and Tex for running the ball out and scoring on the play.

It is rare that you can actually put 100% of the blame on one player but in this case Luis Castillo lost this game for the Mets. It was all but over and he couldn't make the routine play. Say whatever you want about lights, wind, pressure... but bottom line is that you are paid to make plays and when it came time to catch a simple fly ball; Castillo couldn't do it.

It is these kind of senseless losses that the Mets have racked up the last few years. Choke artists?