Manuel's Mets Trying to Shake off Injuries
Bill Eichenberger - SportingNews.com
Jun 25, 2009
NEW YORK -- This is becoming too much for even the relentlessly optimistic Jerry Manuel to bear.
With nine players already on the disabled list, including stars Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado, the news that veteran slugger Gary Sheffield received a cortisone shot Wednesday behind his right knee and would be out of the lineup for at least a couple more days was hard to take.
"He's had some issues with the knee, and we decided that the best thing was to give it a couple more days and be ready to go Friday," Manuel said of the balky hamstring that has been bothering Sheffield since a four-game series in Pittsburgh in early June.
If only all the Mets' injury issues were so seemingly simple to address.
After saying a couple days ago that he planned to hold a team meeting, Manuel said Wednesday that he decided not to do that, saying that is not his style. Instead, he said he pulled individual players aside and stressed the important of executing the little things. Under these circumstances, he said, "Those things become big things for us."
"There's more of an emphasis on doing the small things right," said third baseman David Wright, whose .346 average leads the National League. "We're really trying to play mistake-free baseball because we don't have the luxury of playing sloppy baseball and winning a lot of games."
Still, despite the adversity, the Mets, who had lost nine of their past 14 games before Wednesday's victory over the St. Louis Cardinals, are a game and a half behind the staggering Philadelphia Phillies in the N.L. East.
Asked whether he thought it was realistic that his injury-ravaged, 36-34 team could achieve his goal of being five or six games above .500 by the All-Star break, despite a schedule that consists of 21 consecutive games against teams with winning records, Manuel said, "We have to see how well we continue to pitch. The next time through the rotation, if we are consistently pitching well, then I could say that it is a realistic goal. But if we falter somewhat, then that becomes more optimism than realism."
That rotation, which has fared surprisingly well with replacement starters Fernando Nieves and Tim Redding in the mix, could be strengthened as early as next week by the return of John Maine and Oliver Perez. Both threw encouraging bullpen sessions Wednesday and are scheduled for one more minor league start before coming off the disabled list.
In the meantime, the Mets will continue to play small ball and scratch for runs, relying on a team on-base percentage of .355 that is third in the majors and a running game that has produced an N.L.-leading 70 stolen bases.
"Nobody is going to feel sorry for us," said veteran Alex Cora, who has filled in admirably for Reyes at shortstop. "And if we feel sorry for ourselves, we're in trouble. ... We're not as bad (off) as people think we are."
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