Tom Brennan - The Doctor Will See You Now
Man, I want to be super optimistic about 2017 and the Mets. Whoo hoo! No one will get hurt, everyone will bounce back, the team will win 100 games, and a Ride up the Canyon of Heroes will ensue in early November.
But this roster, still not fully complete, is filled with guys who have spent much time in the repair shop. May I elaborate?
CATCHER: Travis d'Arnaud has missed scads of time with a myriad of injuries. Not a good track record. Kevin Plawecki had dizzy spells in 2015, and played like he was dizzy in 2016.
FIRST BASE: Lucas Duda went from having a healthy back to a stress-fractured one. One can only hope this does not recur. His likely platoon mate, Wilmer Flores, has played the game his whole life and not figured out how to slide in to home feet first, leading to a surgery we can only hope was 100% successful. Stay healthy, and this is a very decent platoon.
SECOND BASE: Neil Walker had back surgery. Supposedly very successful, but baseball is a rigorous sport. Time will tell. TJ Rivera never gets hurt - he only hurts baseballs with his bat.
SS: Asdubal Cabrera had a fine season through knee issues. Don't think he is Lou Gehrig, give him off a day every week, and hopefully he'll be fine.
THIRD BASE: El Capitan has the twin challenges of spinal stenosis and coming off neck surgery. Can he still play? Jose Reyes will play when he does not, and has a history over the past several years of missing lots of time with hammys and whatnot.
OUTFIELD: Yoenis Cespedes must not dive into the stands anymore, and he should be fine. Juan Lagares in Spanish means infirmary. Grandy is an aging Iron Man, Bruce is mostly healthy but won't be here, and Conforto is heathy enough, but Nimmo usually misses some time with whatever malady seems to show up for him.
PITCHERS: Matt Harvey is highly encouraged after Thoracic Outlet Surgery, Steve Matz ought to do as well as Familia did after elbow chip surgery, Wheeler says he feels great after 2 years away, deGrom had surgery to relocate his ulnar nerve, and Thor has a little bone chip not removed. Ladies and gentlemen, your Workhorse Starting Five!
BULLPEN: Familia hurt himself in a different way - length of time in 2017 to be missed is TBD. Josh Edgin and Josh Smoker have had serious issues in the past with their pitching apparatus. Eric Goeddel bought another spool of baling wire to keep his arm together. Contrary to most everyone else, Hansel Robles has been a pretty healthy workhorse, and has the great Addison Reed. No Jim Henderson walking wounded need apply.
If this team were a car driver and it had this sort of boo-boo record, insurance would be mighty hard to come by. It is a collectively fragile bunch.
So thank goodness we have the likes of Amed Rosario, Dom Smith, Gavin Cecchini, TJ Rivera, and Paul Sewald, not to mention season-savers Seth Lugo and Rob Gsellman in reserve when the injury bug hits. Hopefully it will be a quiet hurricane season, because injuries really blow.
One can only hope for health for this squad, which will be fun to watch if healthy. But often leaves us in stitches. Can you get injured crossing your fingers?
Just curious - can anyone think of a team (or teams) that has experienced as many major injuries that could recur in some fashion as the Mets have had heading into spring training 2017?
ReplyDeleteThis team has such a high ceiling if everything goes positively regarding injuries.
ReplyDeleteYet...
It has such a low floor due to injuries and the Mets/players history when it comes to ouchies.
Bob, that is my concern. Like Mack wrote this AM, and I echoed, lots of IF'S, and there's no if's, and's, or buts about that.
ReplyDeleteOnce again..
ReplyDeleteComes down to roster construction.
Year after year it always seems the Mets rely on everything going right...turning out for the best.
Strange...given the idea of learning from past experiences
Bob, I think this year, they are better off than usual.
ReplyDeleteif Duda hurt again, Flores could take over at 1B.
If Wright goes down, Reyes there to take over full time.
If Walker went down, TJ Rivera and/or Flores. Two injuries? Maybe 2B Cecchini will be capable enough, and Matt Reynolds could always be used short term.
Cabrera? Jose, or possibly rush Amed up here. We had Tejada STARTING for this team before. This scenario is much better.
Outfield Conforto, Nimmo, Lagares are better than he Dekkers and Kirks of years past.
Three viable catchers, and possibly by later in 2017 another in Nido.
Pitchers? Lugo and Gsellman to step in, maybe Montero.
Not thread-bare safety net.
Maybe....
DeleteBut....
Given last year...and the current state of these players health....
It is a given Wright will not play in many more games he does play in.
Add to that it is not far fetched that 3 or 4 of the other injury question position players miss extended games at the same time.
Then it is not far fetched to assume 2 or 3 of the starters missing extended games at the same time.
Let's face it.... the starting pitchers will give what they can. There is no realistic alternative other than hoping for the best health possible and the subs stepping up again like last year when needed.
The position players however, are an area that relieving some of the question marks was/is needed.
A good reliable centerfielder should have been a priority this off season.
Additionally a good reliable 1st baseman should have been a focus.
Moving on from Bruce, Granderson, Walker, and Lagares question marks should have been a focus as well...
Moving on from the All-or-nothing hitting approach should have been a priority as well given the equally all-or-nothing uncertainty of the many injury status players.
Coincidentally, Mike Vacarro wrote an NBA article with this headline today:
ReplyDeleteDerrick Rose’s latest ding shows how fragile the Knicks really are.
Substitute one of the Mets' oft-injured guys' name for Rose's and change Knicks to Mets, and it hits home that guys who get injured seem more prone to future injury than other guys.
Bob, if they have a bunch of injuries, you will look prophetic. Hopefully, if someone or ones in this injured group goes down in 2017, may it be in spring training with time to react to it effectively. My guess is management is keeping their fingers crossed.
ReplyDeleteBob -
ReplyDeleteThe Mets can correct their roster construction very quickly if they learn how to draft aggressively, by talent, rather than signability.
Also, throw in a couple more high bonus International signees each year.
That can be true Mack.....
ReplyDeleteBut... the effects of that quickness will not match up with the time frame of Cespedes and the young gun starters currently in Citibank.