J.J. Putz, Jose Reyes, Carlos Delgado, John Maine: Injuries Catch Up with Mets

J.J. Putz, Jose Reyes, Carlos Delgado, and John Maine. When you look at this list your first reaction should be "Hey these guys all play for the New York Mets," and you'd be wrong.

Yes Putz, Delgado, Reyes, and Maine are all still under contract with the Mets, however, (with the exception of Maine) you won't be seeing any of them in the starting lineup for quite some time.

Pitcher John Maine is due back from the disabled list on June 12, which is the best news Mets fans will be hearing for a while regarding players coming back. The question is, can the healthy players steer the ship until guys like Delgado and Reyes are back?

Three games behind the NL East leading Philadelphia Phillies, the New York Mets and their fans are fully aware that those three games are going to have to be earned by fill-in players like Tatis and Cora stepping up.

The bottom line is that the Mets would love nothing more than to win the NL East after two straight seasons of choking away the NL East crown. However, in order to accomplish this goal, they are going to have to do it without their full arsenal of weapons.

Putz and Delgado won't be walking through those doors until mid-July at best, and Reyes is still a question mark, but the Mets have every ability to hold down the fort until then. The back-ups the Mets have are players they have faith in, as should the Mets' fanbase.

With a collective pitching ERA of 3.93 (fourth best in the National League) and an OPS that ties the LA Dodgers for best in the NL as well as solid players filling the void, the Mets should still be able to challenge the Phillies for the division crown.