Let’s not cry over spilt milk, because there’s a lot of things about this Met team, which can’t be helped.
If the starters continue to pitch so inconsistently, then the bullpen will continue to be taxed.
There’s not much you can do about it, like in today’s 12-7 loss to the Pirates.
But there are a few things you can control and that’s maybe curtail an injury or two.
With Yoenis Cespedes back hopefully next week to DH in Texas, the Mets want to keep their central star on the field for more than two days this time.
Of course, they will have a plan going in and according to manager Terry Collins, the training staff will so something to keep Cespedes stretched out. Be it exercises, time in the sauna, or even yoga, they will do something.
Hopefully that will work.
But also, the Mets need to use some common sense and maybe not make the mistakes other players had with hamstrings in the past.
Jose Reyes had chronic issues with his hamstrings during his first two seasons and then had to have surgery on the muscle after tearing it in 2009.
“Hamstrings are tricky,” Reyes said. “The thing about the hamstring is that you say, sometimes you say you feel good that day. Let me run. When you feel like that, take an extra day.”
And that’s the advice Reyes has offered Cespedes.
“You think you feel good, but if you do something wrong on the field, it will come back,” he said. “You need to take the extra time to make sure. The hamstring injury can be back and forth and back and forth. I went through a lot with hamstring injuries.”
Reyes’s hamstring problem was so bad, the Mets changed the way he ran the bases in 2004, using a high step, which ultimately didn’t work either. He played only 53 games that year.
“Changing my running style, that was the problem,” Reyes said.
That was also the season, they moved Reyes to second base to make way for the immortal Kaz Matsui, which was switched around when the infielder returned in September.
Ironically, the hamstring problem went away for four years, as Reyes enjoyed injury free seasons from 2005-09, but he said, he didn’t do anything different. Everything was just completely healed.
But maybe like a curse of Shea Stadium, Reyes’s problem returned in 2009 and was limited to just 36 games in Citi Field’s first season.
“That was the year I had a big problem,” Reyes said. “Every time, I tried to come back too soon. And when I tried to come back too soon, my hamstring went on and off. Legs are very important in this game.”
So hopefully Cespedes can learn from Reyes and maybe prevent the hamstring injury from coming back.
Just some common sense and simple advice.
“We talk all the time, when he is here,” Reyes said and Cespedes is coming as soon as Tuesday.
The big guy needs to take it easy.
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