Despite no shortage of warning signs, the Mets don’t appear ready to give up just yet on veteran Carlos Delgado.
The 35-year-old first baseman had just one hit in his previous 29 at-bats and was hitting a mere .200 going into tonight’s matchup in Chicago with the Cubs. That seemed to continue a worrisome trend for Delgado dating to the middle of last season.
Delgado is no mood to talk about the slump, especially after he went 0-for-12 over the weekend in Philadelphia, but the Mets say they still have his back.
âI donât even look at the numbers,â hitting coach Howard Johnson said this afternoon. âI just look at the quality of the at-bats, and theyâve been good with Carlos.â
Thatâs debatable, even though he has cut down on the strikeouts that dogged him the second half of last year. Delgadoâs struggles raise the question of how much longer the Mets can keep him in the No. 5 spot in the lineup, especially with Moises Alouâs return apparently imminent.
While admitting it could change once Alou comes back, Willie Randolph said before last nightâs game that he has no plans to drop Delgado in the order.
In fact, by saying yesterday that there is no room to get backup first baseman Marlon Anderson playing time, Randolph sounded as if his plan is to let Delgado hit his way out of the slump.
The fact that the Mets were 10-7 through Sunday and playing well factors into that decision not to shake things up, Randolph added.
âItâs way too early for me to be overly concerned [about Delgado],ââ he said. âHopefully, heâll break out in this series and we wonât have to worry about that. Iâm not ready to make any rash moves with Carlos.”
