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March 14, 2012 11-12 Offseason Joe Janish

Mets Walking Wounded – Normal?

Here we are, 14 days into March, and the following Mets have suffered some type of injury:

David Wright, Tim Byrdak, Lucas Duda, Ronny Cedeno, Reese Havens, Ruben Tejada, D.J. Carrasco, Zach Lutz, Andres Torres, Scott Hairston, Pedro Beato, Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Robert Carson, and Daniel Herrera.

(Thanks to MetsBlog for the list.)

And I didn’t even include Ike Davis, who caught that crazy Valley Fever.

Terry Collins is at his wit’s end with all these injuries, and I can’t blame him.

What’s your thought? Bad luck? Par for the course?

Joe Janish began MetsToday in 2005 to provide the unique perspective of a high-level player and coach -- he earned NCAA D-1 All-American honors as a catcher and coached several players who went on to play pro ball. As a result his posts often include mechanical evaluations, scout-like analysis, and opinions that go beyond the numbers. Follow Joe's baseball tips on Twitter at @onbaseball and at the On Baseball Google Plus page.
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  1. Izzy March 14, 2012 at 8:15 am
    What does the ancient administration want? Don’t train over the Winter and be playing with 1950’s conditioning against 21st century conditioning? Or does he want these guy to play in the Spring with tightness so they can rip the muscles completely and lose a guy for 3 months? Blame the conditioning guy they hired with decades of ML experience? More seriously, the muscle injuries are increasing everywhere in baseball. The programs need to be re evaluated. the muscles are obviously too tight for the stress today’s player’s put on them, But baseball use science to solve a problem. Nah… They don’t do it with pitching mtions why study the best training methods.
  2. Tommy2cat March 14, 2012 at 8:19 am
    In assessing player injuries, the first step is to distinguish between those that are chronic versus those that are traumatic.

    Chronic – Havens & Lutz top the list. Havens has had back/rib problems since he’s been here. Lutz has had problems with his feet.

    ST type Injuries – Torres, Duda & Tejada – normal to have back stiffness or to experience tightness in groin or glutes. Has a lot to do with transition running with cleats. Beato’s tight shoulder falls into this category.

    Obliques – This is THE injury that really pisses me off. Its a BS injury created by a relatively new philosophy in hitting whereby the batter generates more power through twisting & torquing his hips.

    The PROPER way to generate power is through the legs, not the hips. When a batter generates power with the legs, he stays back and strides toward where the ball is pitched, which increases plate coverage. When a batter generates power with the hips, he reduces his plate coverage and remains susceptible to off speed by pulling off breaking pitches AND screws up his torso in the process.

    Are you listening David Wright, Capt.. Kirk, Scott Hairston & Co. Kirk gets a pass b/c he’s resuming baseball activities after a long layoff.

    Injuries to Byrdak & Cedeno (knees) come with the territory, the former from age and the latter from lateral movement.

    In all, Joe, most of the injuries are minor setbacks that occur in every spring training. However, the oblique injuries gotta go – they are preventable and are caused by a flawed theory that a hitter can develop more power through the over-development of his core (torso) and using the torque in his swing as the primary source of power.

    So says, Keith Hernandez, Ralph Kiner & Tommy2cat!!!

  3. Tommy2cat March 14, 2012 at 8:28 am
    I meant to say Beato & other pitcher’s shoulder & elbow injuries fall within ST Type injuries.

    Should mention that Schwinden & Lagares have looked good this spring. AND healthy.!

  4. NormE March 14, 2012 at 8:31 am
    Good points by Tommy2 and Izzy.
    I’d like to see a more scientific evaluation of training methods for baseball players. Perhaps less emphasis on bulking up and more on flexibility. Aqua training could be an area that would allow for both strength and flexibility.
    Part of the problem is that the big money goes to HR hitters, so agents and players stress bulking up. It’s a short-sighted approach.
  5. Mike B March 14, 2012 at 11:15 am
    I am just glad we got Reyes out of here so we dont have to deal with his injuries. Tejada is breath of fresh air.