Early Injury Concerns

Something to keep an eye on early in Spring Training are injuries.

Several key Mets players are coming back from various ailments that could have a major impact on 2009.

Johan Santana had surgery to repair a torn meniscus on his left knee in October. Considering that his left leg is his driving leg, there is absolutely some worry here. Santana had the injury for most of the year and still managed to pitch one of the greatest games in club history. Mets officials asked Johan not to pitch in the WBC in order for him to focus on his rehab.

John Maine, arguably the Mets #2 starter coming into the season, had surgery in September on his throwing shoulder. In Maine's case the docs removed a lesion from the back of his shoulder socket and removed a bone spur.

Duaner Sanchez had surgery back in 2007 that forced him out for the year--all Met fans remember the accident that put the reliever on the shelf. In 2006 he posted a sterling 2.60 era and was a stalwart of the Mets bullpen. After returning from surgery in 2008 by barely making the club out of Spring Training, his velocity was down and his throwing motion looked different. Even more troublesome was the fact that he looked worse as the season wore on, putting up a 6.00 ERA in the second half after a 3.57 ERA in the first half. With Sanchez the thought was that he wore down and would need the second winter of rehab to get back to the pitcher he once was. We shall see.

Ryan Church started his Mets career off with a bang, and then concussions did his inaugural season in. He is on the comeback trail, healthy and has a lot to prove. After missing almost all of June, July and August, Church returned to starting status in September and put up a .209 BA, .299 OBP, .302 Slg % and .601 OPS in 86 horrible September at-bats. As much as I love the guy, his woeful hitting in September just may have cost us the pennant. The worry with Church is that one more head injury could end his career. We're all pulling for him to succeed because the talent is there, and he is a really good guy.

Luis Castillo, the Met most fans love to hate, is another player with a ton to prove. He had surgery on both knees in late 2007, and he never looked right in 2008. Because of the knee surgeries his legs were off, and he suffered through a trip to the DL for a strained left hip flexor, and also complained of right knee pain, a strained quadricep, and numerous other leg-related ailmets. His 2008 was awful and he put up a 77 OPS+ and a pitiful .305 Slg % for the year in 298 painful to watch at-bats. His fielding suffered as well.

There are other worries--JJ Putz was on the DL twice last year, Daniel Murphy hurt his knee in the Fall League, Beltran had the wall crash down the stretch and always seems one play away from damaging himself, and we did lose Fernando Tatis on Sep 18 after he separated his shoulder.

So the question is, "should we be worried about all of these injuries, surgeries, and carry overs from last year?"

I sure am.