Forget the five games out of six the Mets have dropped in the past week and forget the three earned runs the usually indestructible Thor gave up tonight.
Everyone’s least favorite Flushing Fever has returned, as the worry some Met injury bug attacked the team over the last two days.
First, Lucas Duda and then Travis d’Arnaud went down during last night’s win and then Wilmer Flores had to spend the night in the hospital with a knee infection.
And then the big one tonight, as Yoenis Cespedes left the game in the fifth inning with what was described as a “cramp” in his hamstring. This could be a lot worse.
“Anytime you talk about hamstrings, you are concerned,” said manager Terry Collins. “He will be examined in the morning and we will know more tomorrow.”
Collins went onto say, Cespedes never said it was a “cramp” to his manager, which is why this could be a bigger problem. Cepedes said he felt a “shock” in his leg and the Mets trainers think he will be out two to three days.
Well, so much for this weekend. Remember, as a wise GM once said, “When Cespedes is in the lineup, the Mets win.” The Nationals are visiting Citi Field the next three days.
If you are getting a feeling of déjà vu with these injuries, you are not alone. Besides the current four in the MASH unit, remember the Mets are also down two starting pitchers and a captain.
It’s getting to the point where “St. Elsewhere” will replace “Meet the Mets” as the team’s theme song.
Heck, even Collins is starting to question the baseball gods.
“Probably there is some in there,” Collins said. “We worked so very hard to keep everyone so healthy. In Ces’s case, he was running hard all night. Those accidents are going to happen. You can’t avoid those things. You are allowed to it say to yourself, but don’t say it too loud.”
Look it’s not as bad with Duda only expected out a few days and d’Arnaud pinch hitting tonight. Even Flores’s condition is temporary, but you should wonder who Collins angered up there.
And, more importantly, will it continue?
This isn’t last year and the Mets will probably have stiffer competition from the rest of the division. The Nats, who come in tomorrow, are the Nats, but Atlanta is playing in a new stadium, the Marlins always play the Mets tough and the Phillies are showing, this weeks, the same pushover as last year, when the Mets owned everything on them right down to the Liberty Bell and hoagies.
Hopefully, Cespedes’s cramp will be just that, because reading Twitter after Juan Lagares was inserted into third in the lineup, a lot of Met fans wanted to jump from the Shea Bridge. Imagine if it’s more. Sheesh.
Maybe this will be it. A reminder of last year, which won’t go any further. Maybe the weather will warm up a little as well and wake the bats up. Maybe.
It better end soon, though, because the Mets won’t survive an injury rash like they had last season.
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