Why are people making such a big deal over Carlos Delgado saying he can't guarantee he will be back this season?
Delgado, who turns 37 in June, has just had major hip surgery. Most people realize that it will take him weeks to recover, and even when he is ready to play, there is no guarantee that he will be able to perform at his best.
Everyone except Met management, that is.
"Tis just a scratch!" bellows the Black Knight in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" when King Arthur cuts off his arm. Eventually, King Arthur cuts off all of the Black Knight's limbs, but the Black Knight still refuses to concede the fight.
With the Mets' constant insistence on downplaying the severity of injuries, it would not surprise me if they used "Holy Grail" as a motivational film.
And someone in PR is going to pay for allowing Delgado to appear in public last night on crutches. How will they pilfer Nick Johnson from Washington if the Nationals have any suspicion that he might not be back when the Mets hope he is back?
The worst thing about the Mets' denial when it comes to injuries and injury risk is that it permits Omar Minaya to keep relying on aging veterans, both at the big league level and at Triple A. Moises Alou did great when he could play, but he was at the end of his career and could not stay healthy. Now the Mets are counting on a 40-year-old playing the outfield fulltime for the first time since 2005. How is that likely to work out in the long run?
But the only thing worse about being in denial on injuries would be to panic and overreact to to them. Better to at least give the first base platoon of Daniel Murphy and Fernando Tatis a chance than to give up the likes of Bobby Parnell for an injury-prone Nick Johnson.
Showing posts with label Carlos Delgado. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Carlos Delgado. Show all posts
Friday, May 29, 2009
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Shine on you crazy Delgado
Forget the DL. I have figured out how to get Oliver Perez to pitch a great game. Find a way to have him pitch against Johan Santana. Apparently, any pitcher, even Chan Ho Park, suddenly starts matching Santana zero for zero when facing the Mets' ace.
Maybe standing on the same mound just after the magical Santana gives the opposing pitcher temporary special powers. Before tonight, Park had an ERA of 8.57. Tonight, no runs, one hit and two walks in six innings. The Mets could test this theory by having Santana stand on the mound just before each inning that Ollie pitches.
And the Santana music played for Ollie would be (You've got to change your) "Evil Ways."
Only in a Santana game could a walk, an infield hit and a throwing error constitute a rally. And the Mets would not have scored had Crazylegs Carlos Delgado not lumbered past Razor Shines' stop sign to slide home with the only run of the game. Sliding home with an ailing hip, no less.
The Mets won despite Jerry Manuel pinch-hitting for Santana in the seventh with a slumping Ryan Church. Santana had thrown only 101 pitches, but did have to sit around for awhile during the long bottom of the seventh. But with J.J. Putz unavailable, Jerry Manuel turned to Pedro Feliciano in the eighth inning. I didn't trust Feliciano to make it through the eighth, and he did end up allowing the tying run to get to third, but he did complete a scoreless inning. So far this year, Feliciano has an ERA of 7.50 on the road, but 0.00 at Citi Field, so maybe he's safer at home.
It's easy to take Santana and Francisco Rodriguez for granted because they are doing what they are supposed to be doing, but to have two high-priced free agent pitchers come to New York and perform at such a high level is something the New York teams have certainly not been able to take for granted. And K-Rod is doing it right from the start of his New York tenure - 8-for-8 in save opportunities, including three in the last three games.
For the first time in awhile, it does not feel like Santana and pray for rain, with Mike Pelfrey, John Maine and even Livan Hernandez pitching better lately and Ollie safely stashed on the DL. Let's hope they can keep it up. Shine(s) on you crazy Met team!
Maybe standing on the same mound just after the magical Santana gives the opposing pitcher temporary special powers. Before tonight, Park had an ERA of 8.57. Tonight, no runs, one hit and two walks in six innings. The Mets could test this theory by having Santana stand on the mound just before each inning that Ollie pitches.
And the Santana music played for Ollie would be (You've got to change your) "Evil Ways."
Only in a Santana game could a walk, an infield hit and a throwing error constitute a rally. And the Mets would not have scored had Crazylegs Carlos Delgado not lumbered past Razor Shines' stop sign to slide home with the only run of the game. Sliding home with an ailing hip, no less.
The Mets won despite Jerry Manuel pinch-hitting for Santana in the seventh with a slumping Ryan Church. Santana had thrown only 101 pitches, but did have to sit around for awhile during the long bottom of the seventh. But with J.J. Putz unavailable, Jerry Manuel turned to Pedro Feliciano in the eighth inning. I didn't trust Feliciano to make it through the eighth, and he did end up allowing the tying run to get to third, but he did complete a scoreless inning. So far this year, Feliciano has an ERA of 7.50 on the road, but 0.00 at Citi Field, so maybe he's safer at home.
It's easy to take Santana and Francisco Rodriguez for granted because they are doing what they are supposed to be doing, but to have two high-priced free agent pitchers come to New York and perform at such a high level is something the New York teams have certainly not been able to take for granted. And K-Rod is doing it right from the start of his New York tenure - 8-for-8 in save opportunities, including three in the last three games.
For the first time in awhile, it does not feel like Santana and pray for rain, with Mike Pelfrey, John Maine and even Livan Hernandez pitching better lately and Ollie safely stashed on the DL. Let's hope they can keep it up. Shine(s) on you crazy Met team!
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
The Carlos Delgado Show
This should have been a routine 2-1 win. A chance to praise Livan Hernandez for pitching scoreless ball into the seventh, but also to poke fun at the Braves for batting Garrett Anderson cleanup. Anderson, who is almost 37 and was just coming off the DL, is now hitting .172 in 29 at bats with no homers and no RBI. What team would put an aging AL castoff hitting below the Mendoza line in the cleanup spot? Oh, that's right, the Mets, with Gary Sheffield last week.
The Braves also started Kenshin Kawakami, who continued to struggle in his first MLB season. After five starts, Kawakami now has an ERA of 6.41. Yet the Braves gave Kawakami three years and $23M. Imagine being stuck with an unreliable starter at the beginning of a pricey three-year deal. (Though in this case, I'd prefer Oliver Perez, who at least has shown he can win in MLB. Kawakami could turn out to be the next Kei Igawa.)
Yes, it should have been a routine 2-1 win, before Delgado turned the ninth inning into his own personal show. First, he drove in two insurance runs in the top of the inning. He could have stopped there, reassuring everyone that the Mets were actually capable of tacking on runs.
But no, Delgado had to go and demonstrate the importance of insurance runs - by dropping a routine pop that should have ended the game. Instead, the Braves would go on to cut the score to 4-3 and have the tying run on third and winning run on first - with Chipper Jones coming up.
The Mets seem to make a blooper play every game these days. In fact, they made one the previous inning, when Luis Castillo let a ball go through his legs. But Delgado's might have been the worst of all. Most of the outfield miscues might have had some mitigating factor - wind, sun, new Citi Field, Daniel Murphy is not an outfielder, Gary Sheffield is really a DH, etc.
But there was no sun, no wind, just a routine pop to a veteran third baseman. And while one of Murphy's muffs ultimately helped cost Johan Santana a game, it took place in the second inning, when it was far from clear that the game was on the line. Not the case tonight.
Fortunately for the Mets, while some of their starters, notably Ollie, but he hasn't been the only one, have gotten rattled at miscues in the field, Francisco Rodriguez was able to keep his cool and put the game away.
So the story has a happy ending. But it's hard to get too excited, because while it was a nice win, it would have been the worst loss of the year, and it makes you wonder about a team when two veterans make embarrassing errors in the late innings.
The Braves also started Kenshin Kawakami, who continued to struggle in his first MLB season. After five starts, Kawakami now has an ERA of 6.41. Yet the Braves gave Kawakami three years and $23M. Imagine being stuck with an unreliable starter at the beginning of a pricey three-year deal. (Though in this case, I'd prefer Oliver Perez, who at least has shown he can win in MLB. Kawakami could turn out to be the next Kei Igawa.)
Yes, it should have been a routine 2-1 win, before Delgado turned the ninth inning into his own personal show. First, he drove in two insurance runs in the top of the inning. He could have stopped there, reassuring everyone that the Mets were actually capable of tacking on runs.
But no, Delgado had to go and demonstrate the importance of insurance runs - by dropping a routine pop that should have ended the game. Instead, the Braves would go on to cut the score to 4-3 and have the tying run on third and winning run on first - with Chipper Jones coming up.
The Mets seem to make a blooper play every game these days. In fact, they made one the previous inning, when Luis Castillo let a ball go through his legs. But Delgado's might have been the worst of all. Most of the outfield miscues might have had some mitigating factor - wind, sun, new Citi Field, Daniel Murphy is not an outfielder, Gary Sheffield is really a DH, etc.
But there was no sun, no wind, just a routine pop to a veteran third baseman. And while one of Murphy's muffs ultimately helped cost Johan Santana a game, it took place in the second inning, when it was far from clear that the game was on the line. Not the case tonight.
Fortunately for the Mets, while some of their starters, notably Ollie, but he hasn't been the only one, have gotten rattled at miscues in the field, Francisco Rodriguez was able to keep his cool and put the game away.
So the story has a happy ending. But it's hard to get too excited, because while it was a nice win, it would have been the worst loss of the year, and it makes you wonder about a team when two veterans make embarrassing errors in the late innings.
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