A lot of people heard the news about Jeff McNeil’s injury
and immediately groaned something to the effect of how the club seems
snakebitten by the injury bug. It
somehow seems that the Mets are disproportionately afflicted with injuries from
the minor, nagging day-to-day variety, to the major ones requiring months of
rehab. Since the season started, let’s
take a look at just how many injuries there have been.
- Drew Smith – Out for the season – Tommy John Surgery
- Franklyn Kilome – Out for the season – Tommy John Surgery
- Yoenis Cespedes – Out for the season – Heel Surgery and Complications from a Fall at His Ranch
- Robinson Cano – Likely out for the season – Hamstring Tear
- Jed Lowrie – Out since season began – A Variety of Lower Extremity Injuries
- Jacob Rhame – Out for the season – Tommy John Surgery
- Brandon Nimmo – Out since May – Neck Injury
- Dom Smith – Out since July – Foot Injury
Then there are the shorter term injuries that have plagued
the team as well…not quite in strictly chronological order:
- Todd Frazier
- Travis d’Arnaud
- Jacob deGrom
- Luis Avilan
- Jeurys Familia
- Justin Wilson
- Jason Vargas
- Steven Matz
- Seth Lugo
- Michael Conforto
- Jeff McNeil (twice)
- Robinson Cano (twice)
- Noah Syndergaard
- Zack Wheeler
So are the Mets simply born under a bad sign, do their
trainers and conditioning people need to be replaced yet again, or is what
we’re seeing fairly typical? In the past
you used to be able to hit some websites that tracked such things across major
league baseball, but now the only one that pops up is a rather expensive
subscription service to get this report.
I did find historically for the year 2018 the NY Mets did
lead the league in something – roster impact of injuries. That number is calculated by factoring in the
expected contributions of the missing players on the club’s won/lost
record. That’s not necessarily a badge
of honor.
I would think that with three players out for the season
(two of whom likely figured into plans – Cespedes and Drew Smith) – that’s a “good”
start towards a repeat of the dubious league leading honor. Then you have All Star Jed Lowrie who hasn’t
suited up to play a game in Queens yet, high impact starting outfielder Brandon
Nimmo gone for most of the year (but mitigated somewhat by the contributions of
now-injured Dom Smith and J.D. Davis), the entire starting rotation at one time
or another, as well as most of your bullpen, they certainly can lay claim to
injury royalty.
About the only teams that might come close are the Dodgers and the Yankees, but they managed to stay in 1st place despite the maladies afflicting members of their roster. They don’t rely on Aaron Altherr and Wilmer Font types to carry the load when starters are unavailable.
About the only teams that might come close are the Dodgers and the Yankees, but they managed to stay in 1st place despite the maladies afflicting members of their roster. They don’t rely on Aaron Altherr and Wilmer Font types to carry the load when starters are unavailable.
To be fair, BVW did acquire Lowrie, Keon Broxton, J.D. Davis
and others to fortify the bench and bullpen roles. He really only whiffed (if you’ll forgive the
expression) on Broxton. Others have been
injured or playing as if injuries have yet to be announced (Edwin Diaz,
anyone?). In fact, had the two Seattle
imports performed as expected, it could be the Braves looking up at the Mets
right now.
6 comments:
It often hurts just to think about this team. Get Nimmo right back here by Monday - anything is better than Altherr, even a rusty Nimmo.
b games too - you've had long enough. Earn your contract.C'mon Lowrie, start your reh
b games = Lowrie - how that turned into b games, I have no idea.
The Mes do seem snake bitten here but I am sure many other teams have this long of an injured list.
Baseball players do seem much more than basketball or football players.
Blame it on the ball.
Mack, the Mets used just 34 players in 1968 including 14 pitchers all year. I think they coddle guy too much in this day and age.
Hence, I added an Open Thread on coddling later today.
Tom back in the days before free agency, and oh how I long for those days, players were actually playing for their next contract. When free agency got to the point where players were making more then their managers and coaches coupled with multi year deals it became an obvious problem that get's worse by the day with no end in site.
I think it's bad luck, Injuries are a huge part of the game and they happen to the Mets quite frequently.
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