While the baseball season isn’t even two months old, the New York Mets have suffered more injuries than the entire bubonic plague. It’s true. Read your history books.
Okay, I’m stretching the truth there, but only by a little! Either way, the New York Mets have had their fair share of injuries not just this season, but dating back to last season as well.
Making the playoffs as the top wildcard last season, injuries took their toll on the team almost all year. But focusing on 2017, it has been more of the same for the relationship that is the Mets and the disabled list.
Since opening day, the Mets have lost their best positional player in Yoenis Cespedes. They have lost their ace in Noah Syndergaard. They have lost their closer in Jeurys Familia. That’s not to mention that they have also lost first baseman Lucas Duda, shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera and catcher Travis d’Arnaud, twice. Pitchers Steven Matz and Seth Lugo have yet to even throw a pitch this season because of injuries, though they have started this rehab programs this week. I didn’t even mention that David Wright has been out the entire season. Whether he can play or not, his voice is sorely missed in the clubhouse.
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But why are all of these injuries piling up? Is it their workout regimen? Is it an organizational problem? Are coaches and management not taking control of how players should be handled? We saw this season already that Noah Syndegaard refused an MRI from the team, then tore his lat muscle early in his next start. While the injury was different than what the MRI would’ve been conducted for, is it possible it would’ve picked up the lat problem?
Yoenis Cespedes has had a nagging hamstring problem since last season. When he re-aggravated his hamstring in in April, rather than put him on the DL immediately, the team allowed him to rest it a couple of days then play again. Then he pulled up lame headed to second base on a double on April 28, and he’s been out since with a strained hamstring.
"“In the old times, guys would say they don’t throw enough. I think today they almost throw too much. They don’t seem like they ever save bullets for the game. Our guys run and they do all the stuff that they want them to do. Maybe that’s just because my guys are always getting hurt and I don’t have any other explanation for it.” -Terry Collins via NJ.com"
Asdrubal Cabrera inured his thumb on May 6 and received an MRI the next day. While the team said there was no structural damage to the thumb, Cabrera said he had a tear in it. Waiting almost a full two weeks, Cabrera re-aggravated the thumb and was finally placed on the DL. Why the hesitation?
We have seen so many instances where players and management have either disagreed on injuries, or flat out played it wrong. When these things happen repeatedly, I’d say it’s a mix of bad luck and terrible managing by the team. It’s like when a family continuously moves from house to house, neighborhood to neighborhood, because the “neighbors are all crazy,” as they say. But what happens when do you finally look in the mirror and realize you are the main problem?
We have seen head trainer Ray Ramirez receive a ton of flak from fans, most notably being dubbed “the angel of death” this season. But for a team that has essentially dropped the ball on every major decision when it comes to injuries, it can’t all be pinned on him.
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When a player refuses an MRI, he should be suspended by the team. When a player re-aggravates an injury they have been dealing with for weeks, they should’ve been shut down immediately in the first place. But when it comes to the Mets, even when things are going well, you just know how the movie is going to end: Death, taxes, and the New York Mets dealing with injuries.