New York Mess

I cannot recall a team running into worse luck than the 2009 Mets. Mets players on the DL include:

Starting Pitchers
John Maine
Fernando Nieve

Relievers
J.J. Putz
Billy Wagner

Infielders
Jose Reyes
Carlos Delgado
Ramon Martinez

Outfielder
Carlos Beltran

Oh, wait, I forgot: Luis Castillo tripped going down the dugout steps on Wednesday, and sprained his ankle. Seriously.

So the Mets starting lineup looked like this yesterday:

Angel Pagan
Alex Cora
David Wright
Gary Sheffield (who, by the way, just came off the DL)
Daniel Murphy
Jeff Francoeur
Brian Schneider
Angel Berroa

This, my friends, is the $135 million New York Mets, the team with a payroll second only to the Yankees.

Oh, wait, one more thing: the Mets starter yesterday was Jon Niese. Niese was called up from the minors in May because ... you guessed it ... Oliver Perez got injured. Niese hurt his hamstring covering first base in the 2nd inning, decided he was okay, then immediately collapsed while throwing a practice pitch and had to leave the game. He needs surgery and is out for the year.

Um, sorry, one more thing: Gary Sheffield hurt his hamstring running to first in the 6th inning. He also left the game.

The Mets still managed to beat the Cardinals 9-0, and are five games under .500, which is actually pretty impressive.

Wednesday: Reds 4, Cubs 0


Justin Lehr is an a**hole.

Okay, that's probably not fair. But who does he think he is? A four-hit shutout?

The man hadn't pitched in the majors since 2006.

The most wins he's ever had in a season is two.

Two.

He's owned in .1% of ESPN fantasy leagues. And that's up .1% this week.

In the 2007 Caribbean Series, he had an ERA of 162.00.

But nevertheless, he absolutely steamrolled the Cubs. He went the distance, allowing nothing but singles to Lee, Bradley and Soriano, a bloop double to Rich Harden, and the obligatory walk by Bradley.

Rich Harden struggled mightily in the 2nd, but ended up with a quality start and nine strikeouts. It's his fifth "good" start in a row--he did go just five innings last time out against Florida, but you have to go back to July 10 against the Cardinals to find his last truly disappointing outing.

Perhaps we shouldn't be greedy--the Cubs had won six straight against the Reds before Wednesday--but this one would have been nice to win. It would have given the Cubs a 4-2 record on the road trip, meaning a split with Colorado would net a winning 6-4 trip. Instead, the Cubs head to the Centennial State hoping to win three of four.

By the way, it's one thing for Aaron Miles to be activated from the DL, but did Lou need to start him--and bat him second?! He went 0-for-3 to lower his average to, ahem, .198. That's below the Mendoza Line.

To make room for Miles, Jeff Stevens was sent down, meaning Jeff Samardzija stays. In a separate move, reliever Jason Waddell was released.

Rookie of the Year Watch

J.A. Happ dominated the Rockies on Wednesday to move to 8-2. He saw Randy Wells' 7.1 inning, one-run performance, and raised him a complete game, four-hit shutout. Now both pitchers have eight wins, and their ERAs are virtually identical: 2.74 for Happ, 2.73 for Wells. The question remains: will Happ stay in the rotation when Pedro Martinez is activated from the DL?