Injury Update
Here’s an update on a couple of injuries:
- Ryan Church has been sporting sunglasses to disguise the shiner on his eye and protect his eyes which are still sensitive to light as the efects of the concussion he suffered Sunday after colliding with Marlon Anderson in the outfield take their course. He is slowly getting better. No word on when he will return to game action yet.
- Ruben Gotay is scheduled to have a CT scan on his injured left ankle today. The injury, suffered while sliding into home plate on Sunday, was originally thought to be a sprain. But the team doctor didn’t like what he saw in the Xray and ordered the CT scan to confirm whether or not there is a fracture in the ankle.
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Pelfrey Gaining On El Duque
Mike Pelfrey furthered his case to make the team by throwing 3 shutout innings against the Braves yesterday while the man still slated to occupy the rotation spot he covets, Orlando Hernandez, threw a towel instead of a ball. The towel is supposed to create some resistance as El Duque tries to reworks his mechanics to take pressure off his ailing toe.
General manager Omar Minaya is optimistic that Hernandez will pitch batting practice on Wednesday and see game action over the weekend. But although a fifth starter won’t be needed until mid April Hernandez is still 2 games behind most of the other pitchers on the staff.
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Gotay’s Ankle Ailing
The report on Ruben Gotay has gotten worse. After injuring his ankle yesterday Gotay was spotted walking on crutches with a boot on this morning. Xrays taken on the right ankle he injured the Sunday sliding into home plate showed a possible fracture. He’ll undergo a CT scan tomorrow.
I like Gotay but with Luis Castillo at second base and Jose Reyes at shortstop he seems like a good backup who will not get much playing time. Unless one of those two (or both of them) get injured Gotay will probably not play a major role this year.
That being said this injury is still cause for concern. Gotay has a good bat and could play a role on the bench if some shuffling needs to be done to cover for any lost time Carlos Delgado may have due to his hip.
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Jack Curry on Santana’s Changeup
Jack Curry has an article in today’s New York Times discussing Johan Santana‘s changeup and how much it looks like a fastball. Here are some quotes:
Rick Peterson: “When you talk to hitters and hitting coaches, the No. 1 factor for being a productive hitter in the major leagues is pitch recognition. If your fastball is at 92 to 95 miles per hour and it has the same spin as your changeup, which is at 80, there’s no recognition. We’ve hid that. We’ve disguised that.”
Jason Giambi: “The thing that makes his changeup so tough is how he controls it. He doesn’t bounce it. It just comes to the plate like a fastball and falls off.â€
Derek Jeter: “A lot of pitchers slow their motion down on a changeup. If you watch it, you can see it. But he doesn’t do that.â€
Pedro Martinez: “When people are dead red looking for a fastball in the mid-90s and they have to blink when they see this changeup at 76 miles per hour, that’s abuse.â€
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Schoeneweis, Sosa On The Block
There are reports that the Mets are shopping Scott Schoeneweis and Jorge Sosa. I don’t think they can get very mush for these guys, especially Schoeneweis who is due to make $7.2 million over the next couple of years. I think Sosa is more tradeable because I think he’s a better pitcher who is in the last year of his contract.
The idea of trying to get rid of these guys is sound. They are taking up roster spots that could go to guys like Mike Pelfrey, Joe Smith and Steven Register. Register is perhaps the most important of these three to find a roster spot for right now. He has apparently has a deceptive delivery on his low 90s fastball that has many people excited. Ordinarily I’d say let a guy like this get some more work in the minors before rushing him up to the big leagues. But Register was a Rule V draft pickup and must be returned to the Rockies if he doesn’t make the team.
Another thing that could be accomplished by trading Schoeneweis or Sosa is opening up a spot in the bullpen for Orlando Hernandez. Both the team and Hernandez have said that El Duque will not go to the bullpen but with his ailments (especially his toe) you have to wonder if he’s got enough in him to be an effective starter or if he’ll be better off throwing a couple of innings here and there as a long reliever and giving his rotation spot to someone else (Pelfrey?). El Duque will pitch batting practice again today.
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Welcome back, Darryl
Darryl Strawberry, the Mets career leader in home runs, RBIs and walks, is back with the team. Strawberry will be a full time instructor this season. According to a couple of reports I read Strawberry looks like he’s in playing shape. He’ll serve as an outfield instructor at spring training and be a roving minor league instructor during the season.
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Delgado, Church, Anderson Ailing
The injury fairy visited the Mets yesterday. Her specific appointments were with Carlos Delgado, Ryan Church and Marlon Anderson.
Delgado flew back to New York for an MRI which revealed a hip impingement. He’s expected to miss several days. I did a little research on what a hip impingement is and didn’t like what I saw. According to the Swedish Medical Center website (I don’t know how I found this one) a hip impingement “is caused by lack of room between the neck of the femur and the rim of the socket (acetabulum). This lack of room, or clearance, causes the neck and rim of the socket to jam together as the hip is flexed (as in sitting or running)… The primary symptom of hip impingement is pain in the groin region during or after the hip has been in a flexed position, as in activities such as running, jumping or prolonged sitting. If the pain from impingement interferes with activities of daily living, arthroscopic or open surgery may be recommended.” So we have a hip injury that manifests itself as groin pain when participating in baseball activities (running, jumping). This sounds like something that will nag him all year and may lead to surgery. I think Omar Minaya needs to rethink his backup plans at first base.
As for Church and Anderson, they had a collision in the outfield yesterday. Both were rushed to the hospital. Church has a Grade 2 concussion and a sore jaw. Anderson has a bruised chest. Both are expected to be out several days.
On a side note isn’t it annoying when the team says that a player will be out for several days? That’s a bit vague. Do they mean several as in 4 or several as in 12? Just tell me if it’s 3 days, a week, 2 weeks, etc.
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Santana To Start Today
Johan Santana will take the mound today in his first spring start for the Mets against the Cardinals at Tradition Field. I’ve been working from home lately which is fortunate for me because it will allow me to watch the game live on SNY. People are very excited about this but keep in mind that this is merely a 2 inning outing. Santana was brought here to help win a championship so I find it hard to get too excited about this spring training tune up.
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Milledge Disses Mets
Adam Rubin writes about Lastings Milledge in today’s New York Daily News. Milledge is a highly talented player but has a problem fitting in. Though he matured a bit last year his performance on the field was lackluster enough to knock down his trade value and convince the Mets to cut their losses by trading him to the Washington Nationals for Ryan Church and catcher Brian Schneider.
I don’t doubt that Milledge feels he had a rough time here and don’t blame him for being upset about it. The man is entitled to his feelings. But though I would rather have seen him blossom as a Met I think it was clear that a fresh start would do him good. I just don’t see what negative comments about his former team are supposed to accomplish. To each their own I guess.
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Maine Starts Today
John Maine gets the start today against the St. Louis Cardinals at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, FL. Maine won 15 games last year, his first full year as a starter, and he’ll be counted on to pitch more to the level of his first half of 2007 than his second half. If he can match his overall win total of 15 games last season I’ll be satisfied.
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