Mets Sick Bay

I want to get excited about the start of the season but I’m really concerned about the growing list of injuries with Moises Alou headed to surgery to repair a hernia. The 41-year old leftfielder will miss the start of the season and under normal circumstances should be back by mid to late April but with Alou you never know. He was out half of last season with a quadriceps injury and does not seem to recover quickly.

Besides Alou the Mets are missing starters Carlos Delgado (hip injury), Ryan Church (concussion) and Brian Schneider (hamstring). In addition Carlos Beltran and Luis Castillo have yet to play a spring game while recovering from off-season knee surgery and pitcher Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez has not pitched in an exhibition game while he rehabs from toe surgery.

It’s only March and there’s no reason to panic yet but this is clearly not the start fans were hoping for. The Mets are not a young club and many of the injured players are on the back end of their careers which makes the situation all that more concerning.

Let’s hope that some of the walking wounded get back on the field and begin producing.