As if the Mets needed to deal with more bad news this season Carlos Beltran is now going to visit a specialist. Beltran was in the midst of an All-Star season when he injured his right knee. Right now, all we know is that Beltran has a bone bruise under his knee. The possibly worrisome news is the fact that Beltran is visiting Dr. Richard Steadman, who performs micro-fracture surgeries. If Beltran does, in fact, have or develop a micro-fracture in the knee area, that's even bigger trouble than his current DL stint. Judging from what we've seen in baseball and other sports, and the fact that we're almost in July, micro-fracture surgery would probably end Beltran's season. We can't get ahead of ourselves just yet, though.
"He's going to examine everything that was done in New York," [assistant general manager John] Ricco said. "I don't know how far this injury has progressed. The way they've described it, it's a bruise that gets bigger. And if it keeps getting bigger, it could develop into a micro-fracture and then a fracture of the bone if you keep putting weight on it."The Mets really need to do everything they can to prevent a micro-fracture from developing, assuming it hasn't already. They have been finding ways to tread water in the division without Jose Reyes, Carlos Delgado, J.J. Putz, John Maine and Beltran. Entering Monday night, they were only 2 1/2 games behind the Phillies for first place in the NL East. The thing about treading water, though, is you can only do it for so long before losing the energy to continue. The Mets need their horses back if they want a shot at the postseason.
Beltran is one of the most important -- if not the most important (I'd say it's a toss up between him and Reyes) -- of the afflicted. Not only is he arguably the best defensive center fielder in baseball, but he was hitting .336 with 40 RBI and 40 runs scored in 62 games before his injury. His .952 OPS is especially staggering when you consider how much Citi Field has killed the Mets' power.
The bottom line is that the Mets will be holding their collective breath as Beltran visits Dr. Steadman.
