Castillo Out, Reyes Out Longer
In case you missed it, Luis Castillo slipped going down the dugout steps and injured his ankle. The Mets are terming it a “mild strain”, and not surprisingly, are listing him as “day to day”.
No, this is not a joke. Castillo really did hurt himself in the dugout, off the field of play. Which begs the question: in this brand new stadium, why are the dugout steps and floor not covered with some kind of porous padding, such as you might find on a running track? I could be completely mistaken, but it looks like the dugouts and steps at Citi Field are bare concrete — which makes cleanup easy but is not the safest platform for metal spikes. Again, I could be wrong — I haven’t been inside the dugouts and am only trusting what I’ve seen on TV and views from the stands. For all I know there is a rubber covering on top of the concrete, or maybe they put down some kind of runner or mat.
But back to Castillo’s injury. With him out, but not on the DL, means Angel Berroa will be getting more playing time, and/or we’ll be seeing Fernando Tatis at 2B. Tatis’ hustle, professionalism, and occasional homerun power are wonderful additions to the lineup temporarily, but if he starts then your top RH bat off the bench is Berroa. Twelve of one and a dozen of the other.
Luckily, this situation is only “day to day” (ha!), which reminds us of another middle infielder whose injury status was once described similarly — Jose Reyes (silly me, I thought he’d be out for the season!). The latest on Reyes is that he’s had a setback, he feels “discomfort” in his leg, and has flown up from Port St. Lucie to be re-examined by the team’s doctors. If nothing else, Jose is racking up the frequent-flyer miles with all these trips back and forth between Florida and NYC.
After Reyes is seen by the Mets’ doctors, one has to wonder — is it time for a second opinion? Further, is it time to forget about this season, shut him down, and make sure he’ll be ready for 2010 and beyond? Surely, the similarly ill-advised returns of Carlos Delgado and Carlos Beltran will be enough to sell tickets in September — so let’s put the brakes on Reyes and make sure there will be reason to buy tickets next year.
There is no point bringing these guys back. What are they going to do pad their stats for the winter break?
Delgado as he is in his last year needs to get something in this year so another team will come in for him – shame for the big guy his final yr with the Mets (well one assumes…) is plagued by injury.
covering 1b and was replaced by another triple a
starter. Is Citi field jinx? I know they talk about the boston jersey in yankee staduim did
somebody do that to Citi field?
The silver lining starts with something we saw prior to the season even starting; Projections of an 88-win season. So now we dont have to be cursing another “meltdown/heartbreak/near miss/tragedy”
– today’s losses (player wise) are not much different. Niese is lost for the year again hamstring is the diagnosis (back to this later). but niese has shown significant improvement. prognosis has him in cam and competing for 5th starter.
– the bigger loss might be castillo. yes he has redemed himself mightily…but lets paralel to fred sanchez….could castillo get you two B prospects… i think so…if healthy. I still think he has trade potential. This might be the last chance.
– Beltran takes ALOT of criticism. This site as much as any has called for a trade. I am a big fan but even i would endorse a trade thanks to Angel Pagan. Angel is a very good defensive Cf and a leadoff hitter his .309 avg on a very weak team certainly do him well and will certainly bode well if Omar decides to make a trade in the offseason. In fact I’m not sure that the fanbase will be that accepting of him given angel’s accesssion :).
-Cooment of the week, is my secod silver lining candidate; Danny Murphy. DP has paid his dues and JM has now referred to DP as a defensive replacement when Delgado comes back. We already expect Danny to be a finalist for defensive highlight reel play of the year as well as gaffe. In the big scheme DP will evolve into a Nick Johnson clone.
– On the flip side Pelfrey has not gotten better but regressed as I expected. Frankly I think HE most of all is one of my trade candidates. In his stead I expect another (established) righty starter to fit in the #2 hole.
-conclusion; some players HAVE stepped up others clearly have not. Let me also plug for that Matt Murton or Alex Rios acquisition as well as a possible Gorzelany or Zach Duke trade.
– Now back to the Hamstring: Once this the bane of this team a few yrs back? Then Julio Franco and Hendu were brought in and Omar made this a priority? Could a Henderson return be looming.
maybe not but this Sept I’d like to see Warthen and Ricky Bones switch roles.