The Incredible Dissapearing First Baseman

Is Carlos Delgado injured or is he healthy?

Mets first baseman Carlos Delgado has hit only three homers — four fewer than Damion Easley, who began the season as the team's backup second baseman. Delgado's slow offensive start might be related to the surgery he underwent on his right wrist last Oct. 23. "You never know how long a hand injury is going to take," one Mets official says.

Is it his wrist? Did he lose a bit of his bat speed? Is his batting eye way off? Is he having trouble in the bedroom? What is clear is that something is going on with Carlos Delgado. What is not clear is what it is. Delgado has been largely silent during this slump so it's not too obvious what is going on in his head.

But a .214/.294/.321 line with a .168 batting average against righties forty+ games into the season is disturbing. May has been better with Delgado putting up a .254/.342/.413 which is way better than the .188/.262/.260 line he put up in April and it also bears noting that he is still on pace for 91 RBIs, but at some point, people are going to get really concerned.

Delgado is a borderline Hall of Fame bat. He is also a below average fielder and with no offense and a sub-par defense, he is a not really adding much outside of veteran leadership, which Julio Franco provides plenty of. What if he is injured? Would he speak up? If he is injured, they need to let him heal. Put Green at first and let Endy and Carlos tear it up and play stupendous defense in the outfield. However, there enlies the problem. No one seems to know what the issue with Carlos Delgado is though people seem to think he is turning a corner. He was huge for this Met team last year and carried them at times while being a beast in the playoffs. As good as this team is, they need Carlos to be Carlos.

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The Duque is on his way back and Jason Vargas will inevitably be the odd man out of the rotation.

Orlando Hernandez threw a simulated game in Port St. Lucie, Fla. on Sunday, throwing 72 pitches in five innings and coming through the session feeling fine. Hernandez is scheduled to throw a bullpen session in the next few days and could be slotted into the rotation for the series in Florida next weekend.

The Mets are still kicking some ass in the run differential department.

NY Mets         57
San Diego       32
Chicago Cubs    30
Milwaukee       22
Atlanta         21
LA Dodgers      17
Philadelphia     8
San Francisco    7
Houston         -4
Florida        -10
Cincinnati     -10
Arizona        -13
Pittsburgh     -31
Colorado       -57
St. Louis      -62
Washington     -63

Out of the bigs, only Boston has a bigger run differential and they seem to be running away with that category. The Cubbies seem to be the big surprise here being the only team with a losing record and a run differential in double digits and they are #3 in the NL overall. Lou Pinella might have a stroke before this season is over.

Phil Humber had another rough outing for New Orleans and gave up four earned runs in five innings to raise his ERA to 4.59. In fact, only three pitchers have an ERA under 4.50 on the Zephyrs and one is future Cy Young Award winning Jorge Sosa. The others are Mike Pelfrey after one start and Willie Collazo. Though the park factors say that New Orleans is a pitcher's park, I'm having a hard time believing that. I wouldn't be surprised to see Humber pitch better in the bigs than in the PCL.

Sammy Sosa is quietly putting up some nice power numbers and is on pace for 36 doubles, 36 homers, and a .507 SLG%. Not bad for a guy who has been out of baseball. What is bad is his .319 OBP but for $500,000, he's certainly earning his paycheck.

It looks like Big Z. is going to hit the market and you can be sure he'll fetch a ton of money even if he finishes with a 5.00 ERA.

The D-Rays have it down to Matt Wieters, Josh Vitters, and David Price. Only Price is a pitcher and with a team like the Devil Rays being desperate for pitching, it is beyond me how they can pass up a pitcher. Although, there have been statements made that Price may be the best pitcher in the draft, he is still not as refined as you would like from a college pitcher and will not rocket through the system for some quasi-immediate help. One has to wonder if Rick Porcello is the better choice for Tampa though he is further away from helping.

Griffey hit his 572nd homer on Monday. Just go back and look at what he did back in the 90's and his first season with the Reds. He is a first ballot Hall of Famer as is, but just imagine if he didn't get hurt? Easily a 3000 hit, 2000 RBI, 700 home candidate. He will get to 600 homers early next season and has an shot at 3000 hits still, but his career has gotten lost in the shuffle somewhat. He was hands down the best player in baseball for a long time.

Courtesy of DG...

Tattooed on the newest Marlin's buttocks is the phrase: "I (heart) Billy Koch." Koch, a former reliever who spent time with the Marlins, paid Miller $1,000 plus picked up the $80 tab from Mom's Tattoos in Dunedin before the 2004 season for the advertisement. Koch felt so bad for Miller's wife, Jessica, for "having to see it every day," that he gave Jessica an additional $500.

Ollie Ollie Ollie....what can you say? 3.00 K/BB, .202 BAA, 1.09 WHIP, etc. John Maine is on track for 100+ walks and Oliver Perez is on track for 58 this season. He looks to be official.