Tom Glavine's calf to enter witness protection program
The Mets may have lost another starter to a calf injury, as
Orlando Hernandez "felt discomfort" in his right calf while jogging on Tuesday. He's now questionable for his game one start and likely to be replaced by
John Maine, though the extent of the injury is not yet known. If El Duque is unavailable to pitch at all in the series and the Mets therefore have to use
Oliver Perez or
Darren Oliver as their fourth starter, this could be a serious blow. On the other hand, if Hernandez's injury isn't serious and he just has to be bumped back to game three, it might actually represent an upgrade in the Mets' top three, trading
Steve Trachsel for Maine. Either way, the Mets have the offense to slug their way through this series, even if
Shawn Green has already been announced as starting. But the hitters' job may have just gotten a bit tougher.
On a lighter note, much of the media coverage of this story refers to Hernandez as a "40-year-old right-hander" even though his profiles on the ESPN and MLB websites claim he was born in 1969. I just don't know what to believe anymore.