Mets Can Blame Injuries, But Only to a Point

The Mets enter the All-Star break in miserable shape — eight games under .500, in fourth place in the NL East. They are 12 games back in the division and 10 and a half off the pace for the second Wild Card, with five teams ahead of them trying to unseat the Rockies.

In addition to poor play in general, many are pointing to the Mets bad injury luck as a reason for their showing thus far this season. While it is definitely a factor, it cannot all be blamed on injury.

Indeed, the Mets are atop all of baseball with a 9.70 roster effect rating  (whatever that is, exactly) for injury. Yet the Dodgers are second, and somehow they are 32 games over .500. In fact, the Dodgers have had 23 players on the DL to the Mets 19. And they have had 31 DL stints, compared to 22 for the Mets.

So while it is hard to just blame injuries, it has been staggering for the Mets. The only regulars who have not been on the DL are Jay Bruce, Jose Reyes (who wasn’t even supposed to be a regular) and Curtis Granderson (although he has been dealing with an achy hip lately). Jacob deGrom is the only starter who has not visited the disabled list. The bullpen has been relatively healthy, except for the loss of the most important member, closer Jeurys Familia.

Still, one has to wonder if the Mets would be in a similar spot even if there were fewer injuries. Players like Matt Harvey, Lucas Duda and Neil Walker were not exactly lighting up the scoreboard when they were healthy.

This team was supposed to be built for a World Series run. But it looks more and more likely that will not happen. And with massive turnover expected and the reliance on a youngsters next season, to go along with the failure of the all ace rotation to perform, one also has to wonder if the Mets have missed their window for a World Championship.