After winning the second game of a day-night doubleheader 6-3, which was a huge win that pushed the Mets ahead of Philadelphia by two games with 19 to go, the Mets confirmed today that Closer Billy Wagner will be out for the rest of the season as well as the 2009 season.
He will have surgery this week to repair the MCL ligament in his left throwing elbow. "It is a tear of the flexor pronator," Mets VP of public relations Jay Horwitz told 1050 ESPN New York's Andrew Marchand. "He will have surgery and is expected to be out a year." GM Omar Minaya will be held a conference call with reporters at 4 p.m. today.
Wagner has been sidelined since Aug. 3 because of a tender pitching elbow. He has tried several times to work his way back but hasn't been able to shake the pain. Wearing a protective sleeve on his left elbow, Wagner tested his arm Sunday with disappointing results. Between games of the doubleheader, he went to the mound and faced teammate Gustavo Molina. A wild Wagner hit the reserve catcher on the left foot with his 13th pitch and walked off the field to consult with a trainer and the Mets' coaching staff.
The 37-year-old Wagner is 0-1 with a 2.30 ERA and 27 saves in 34 chances. He is in the third season of a four-year, $43 million contract and ranks sixth on the career saves list with 385.
"He was trying to get us to activate him today," Mets general manager Omar Minaya said Sunday. "The last pitch he threw, he really felt some discomfort in the elbow area. He didn't want to risk it. We are going to be conservative."
To the Mets credit, despite Wagner's injury, they are 22-11 since Wagner went down thanks in large part to Carlos Delgado, who continued his tear with another multi-home run game in the night cap last night.
Luis Ayala, acquired from Washington last month in a trade, has quickly become manager Jerry Manuel's closer. Ayala, who struggled with the Nationals most of the season, is 5-for-6 in save opportunities for the Mets. Ayala allowed an unearned run in the ninth Sunday night. Before that, Mets relievers had not allowed a run in 23 innings since Aug. 31.
Still, Wagner's loss is a huge one for a bullpen that has been unreliable much of the year. Manuel has mixed and matched as much as possible with his relievers during the past month."Anytime you have a guy such as him and you lose him, it becomes a big challenge," Manuel said. "I think they have matured somewhat down there very well. We have some candidates down there to get outs. We just have to continue matching them up."
If there is a silver lining to all of this, the Mets have money, and I believe K-Rod is a free agent at season's end.
Monday, September 8, 2008
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2 comments:
I agree Joe. The Mets will go after K-Rod aggressively and I expect he'll be in a Mets uniform next year.
The reality now is the Mets are without their closer and I think the bullpen will use that as motivation to carry them the rest of the way. Looks like most of the guys are getting used to their roles (i.e. Ayala)
That's exactly what one of my friends said today. He said that they will use it as motivation. I agree with you that they are getting used to their roles.
However, that doesn't mean they're any good at them. It's like you said it's going to go right down to the last week. Every game is an adventure with the Mets, and I don't think Philly is going to go quietly.
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