With Jose Reyes and Ryan Church finally placed on the DL yesterday, the Mets now have a whopping 7 players listed. The team is without 4 every day starters, an invaluable utility player, a starting pitcher, and a former closer destined for the 7th inning if he returns. Pair that with Carlos Beltran’s absence until at least Friday, and you get the Mets Lite.
Compare yesterday’s lineup with that of opening day, and you wouldn’t even know you were watching the same team.
Opening Day – Yesterday
1. Jose Reyes, SS 1. Angel Pagan, CF
2. Daniel Murphy, LF 2. Luis Castillo, 2B
3. David Wright, 3B 3. David Wright, 3B
4. Carlos Delgado, 1B 4. Gary Sheffield, LF
5. Carlos Beltran, CF 5. Fernando Tatis, 1B
6. Ryan Church, RF 6. Fernando Martinez, RF
7. Brian Schneider, C 7. Omir Santos, C
8. Luis Castillo, 2B 8. Ramon Martinez, SS
9. Pitcher’s Spot 9. Pitcher Spot
Only 2 of the starters from opening day played last night, only 2!!!!!
That being said, when injuries are depleting your team’s line up, your pitching needs to respond. Livan Hernandez responded last night. He threw the Mets first complete game of the season so far, giving up 9 hits and 1 earned run with 6 strike outs in a solid effort. His only mistake was a pitch to Ryan Dunn in the top of the 7th. Hernandez improved to 4-1 on the year in 9 starts. He brought his ERA down to 4.28.
Gary Sheffield made the game a little less interesting in the bottom of the 7th, golfing a line drive 3-run home run, his 2nd in 2 days, into the left field seats. I’m not afraid to admit when I’m wrong, and so far Gary Sheffield is proving me wrong. I said earlier in the season that he was washed up, but in his 22 starts in May he’s hitting a fiery .357 with 4 HRs and 13 RBIs. It truly seems like the more he plays, the hotter he gets.
Mets Phenom Fernando Martinez made his first start of the season last night in right field. He will surely be tested defensively playing the hardest position to play in Citi Field, but he has a natural talent that the Mets organization hopes will flourish in the majors. Martinez was hitting very well in the minors so far this season, but struggled at the plate last night, going 0-3 with 2 Ks. He did pick up his first RBI of the year on a fielder’s choice in the third.
Martinez and Livan Hernandez were the only Mets in the line up not to notch a hit against the National’s pitching corp, with David Wright, Gary Sheffield, and Angel Pagan each picking up 2. Wright continues to be on fire at the plate, hitting .417 in May to bring his overall average up to .349. He’s got 22 of his 30 RBI since the beginning of the month. Looks like his slow start was just that, and it’s over now. Angel Pagan has been a pleasant semi-surprise filling in all over the outfield. I say semi-surprise because Pagan had played very well up until his injury last year, so his performance is not unheard of. It’s just nice to see him bouncing back the way he has. He’s batting .296 with a .406 OBP so far, and he’s 4 for 4 stealing bases. He’s not the dynamic threat leading off that Jose Reyes can be, but he keeps a solid bat and threatening speed at the top of the line up.
Alex Cora has decided to put off surgery until the off season, and will try and play through a thumb injury. He can come off the DL as early as Tuesday and says he plans to do so. He doesn’t think he can be an every day player with the injury, but will be able to fill in whenever needed. Cora will be a huge part of the Mets success if he can fill in at SS and 2B to give Luis Castillo a break every now and then and help in a platoon role at SS until Jose Reyes is ready to return.
Lastly,
Metsblog.com reports that Oliver Perez pitched 4.1 innings last night allowing a run on 3 hits and striking out 5. True to Perez’s form, he walked 5.
I’m hoping to get to go to the Mets game tonight to see Johan complete the sweep against the Nationals. Let’s hope the rain doesn’t come.
Let’s Go Mets!
