Where Oh Where are Pedro and El Duque

Just in case you were confused let me remind you, Pedro Martinez, the Mets projected second starter, and Orlando Hernandez, the projected fifth starter/long reliever are both injured and have not made a significant contribution to the team this season. The Daily News ran an article today describing the "progress" being made by both pitchers in their long road back to the major leagues. Martinez throwing a bullpen session without feeling any substantial pain is great news because it means that he can, contrary to popular belief, throw a baseball without injuring some part of his body. How close Pedro is to starting again is anyone's guess, but if there are no further setbacks then I think Pedro will pitch in the majors by the all star break. Of course he will reinjure himself as soon as he steps on the mound of a major league game and this entire cycle will being anew-Injury, Rehab, Minor League Start, Major League Start, Injury...
Now for Orlando Hernandez the news is not as promising. He is still in a walking boot and there is some doubt as to whether he will ever be able to pitch effectively again. The issue at hand is that El Duque cannot plant off of his injured causing his pitches to lose a tremendous amount of velocity. What is surprising about Hernandez's situation is that unlike Pedro he is not particularly injury-prone. He was never an innings-eater, throwing over 165 innings only two times in his 10 year career, but he was also never a serious injury risk throwing under 120 innings only twice. This could spell the end for El Duque as a Met and as a pitcher in the Major Leagues.

Recently, El Duque has been as consistent as it gets for a muddled Mets rotation, with back to back 20 start seasons, which means that this Mets team has had to scramble to find a replacement starter. Nelson "Bert" Figueroa was roughed up in his start last night and Mike Pelfrey's ERA continues to rise. If the Mets want to contend for the playoffs they must acquire another reliable starter because they are certainly not going to be getting those innings from Hernandez and Pedro cannot be counted on to return from his injury.

-Mose