I hate Anderson Hernandez

For some time now Fink & I have complained about the infamous Anderson Hernandez and the Mets belief in his abilities (or lack thereof). Well, believe it or not…he’s back! That’s right folks, the kid who kills it in summer league every season but couldn’t catch up to a major league fastball to save his life is back on the club after yet another injury to another 2nd baseman. This got me thinking about the fact that both my teams, The Mets and the Giants, have to be the most injured teams in their respective sports this past season. As it is still baseball season, I will focus on our beloved Mets to illustrate my point.

The following is a list of pitchers & players on the current 2007 Mets 40-man roster who have been on the DL during the season (really it’s 43-man as Duaner, Padilla and Gomez are not actually on the 40-man but Adam Bostick, Marcos Carvajal (who?) and Phil Humber are, so I am replacing the former 3 with the latter):

Pitchers
Pedro Martinez, Duaner Sanchez, Ambiorix Burgos, Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez, Juan Padilla, Jason Vargas, Oliver Perez

Position players
Paul LoDuca, Ramon Castro, Jose Valentin, Damian Easley, Endy Chavez, Carlos Gomez, Lastings Milledge, Carlos Beltran, Moises Alou, Shawn Green, Ben Johnson

So that is 18 players on the current Mets 40-man roster who have been on the actual DL this season. Then we can essentially include Delgado who has now missed a week with a knee injury.

Let’s call it 18 players OR 45% OF THE ROSTER!!!

These injuries have caused the team to use the likes of Ricky Ledee (who retired yesterday by the way), Chip Ambres, Lino Urdaneta (steroids), the incomparable Chan Ho Park, Jon Adkins, Dave Williams, Brian Lawrence, Mike DiFelice, 40-year old Sandy Alomar Jr., 49-year old Julio Franco and now, the infamous Anderson Hernandez!

To have had 45% of the roster be on the DL during the season including our best starting pitcher, all 3 starting OFs, all 3 back-up OFs, two 2nd basemen and the starting and backup catcher at the same time and still be in 1st place all season is truly amazing. I know we all are critical of Willie at times but I must tip my cap to the man as he and The Jacket have held this team together despite this ridiculous stretch of injuries.

If this team can get healthy all at the same time down the stretch, this National League is ours for the taking. Despite the terrible loss on Thursday night, they took 5 of 6 from the hapless Bucs and Nots and we come back home to face 2 of the lightest hitting teams in the game during the time when we finally seem to be getting the bats going on a consistent basis.
Despite all the injuries, today we stand 17 games above .500 for the first time this season. Let’s play well at home for these next 6 games for a change and go into the Phils and Braves series’ ready to kick some ass!!

OK, it’s time for the Giants game. I will have full report on the 1st team offense and defense with insider reporting from Larry Goldberg in tomorrow’s blog.

Updated by Fink at 9:33pm....

2 things: First, Cooper, i know it must have been difficult for you to right about AH. I mean, the thought of him with a bat in his hand is quite nauseating.

Second, in response to a question by loyal reader and fantasy foe Furrygoat: The Yankees have had the following players on the 4o man roster spend time on the DL this season; Jeff Karstens, Chien-Ming Wang, Hideki Matusi, Carl Pavano, Chase Wright, JoseVeras, Humberto Sanchez, Darrel Rasner, Philip Hughes, Mike Mussina, Jason Giambi, Doug Mientkiewicz. Good for 30%.

Updated by Cooper at 11:40pm....

With all respect to the Yanks fans out there and to Fink, of the above mentioned guys, Pavano, Rasner, Sanchez, Veras and Mientkiewicz are not on the CURRENT 40-man roster but were on at some point throughout the season.

That said, is it any wonder teams like the Yanks & Mets lead their leagues (yes, the women's softball league AKA, the American League, counts too) in injuries considering they employ players nearing social security throughout their organizations??