Back in 2005, Pedro Martinez was having a Cy Young caliber season that was about to be cut short due to a toe injury.  From Rick Peterson to Willie Randolph to the training staff, they all agreed with the Mets out of the race, Pedro should shut it down for the rest of the year.  However, there was one person that didn’t agree – Jeff Wilpon.

As Pedro would later tell in his the eponymous book “Pedro,” Jeff Wilpon approached him telling him to pitch to help the Mets sell-out a September 22nd game against Dontrelle Willis and the Marlins.  Pedro protested leading to an argument where Pedro even offered to give back the rest of his contract.  Ultimately, he pitched because, as Wilpon told him, “While I’m the boss here, you’re going to have to do what I say.”  (Tyler Kepner, New York Times).

While we can never be sure of the root cause of the injury, this moment resonates as Pedro would suffer a torn rotator cuff making him unavailable for the 2006 postseason.  That was one of many what-ifs that happened that year.

Fast forward a decade.

Last year, Steven Matz had what was described as a massive bone spur the team knew needed to be removed surgically.  Rather than have the surgery right away, Matz was pumped full of cortisone shots, told to scrap the slider, and pitched until he could no longer pitch.  The odd thing is Matz initially didn’t want to go this route.

As Jon Heyman of Today’s Knuckleball reported, “[Matz] was seriously considering surgery, and maybe even leaning that way, before a meeting with the Mets brass.”  Sound familiar?

During Spring Training this year, Matz had arm issues, which he self-described as a strained flexor tendon.  The team disagreed with an unnamed Mets official with knowledge of Matz’s medical care telling Bob Klapisch of the Bergen Record, “Our [doctors] found nothing wrong.”

The answer was once again to pitch through the pain and to abandon the slider.  Matz continued to pitch despite his elbow reportedly swelling to the size of a grapefruit.

One thing that is quite notable is a passage from Marc Carig’s Newsday column on the topic, “Matz insisted on powering through, perhaps in defiance of a reputation he’s gained for often being injured. And the Mets proceeded as if he were dealing with inflammation.”  More damning was this statement, “One source described a belief by some in the organization that Matz was simply learning to get over the ‘mental hurdle’ of pitching through pain.”

Certainly, this wasn’t the first time we’ve heard people discuss Matz needing to learn the difference between pitching through pain and pitching hurt.  Ron Darling has made the point a number of times during games.  His manager Terry Collins previously said Matz needed to learn how to pitch through his issues.  (Anthony Rieber, Newsday).

Seeing these comments, we should not be surprised the Mets were completely blind-sided by Matz’s recent ulnar nerve injury and need for surgery.  It is even less surprising considering the team and team doctors dealt with the same issue with Jacob deGrom.

Seeing this happen time and again, we all look to point the finger at someone.  Over the past decade, we have see a change at General Manager, manager, and pitching coach.  The Mets have been affiliated with the Hospital for Special Surgery, which is one of the top hospitals in the country.  Many will point to Ray Ramirez, but he is actually well-regarded in his field.  No, the issue is the Mets organizational culture.

In 2005, they forced Pedro to pitch.  In 2010, they were livid Carlos Beltran had knee surgery, which turned out to be a necessary and possibly career saving procedure.  Now, they have both pressured Matz to pitch and are surprised by his suffering as a result.  Really, the only thing that isn’t surprising is the Mets culture not changing over the past decade.  How can it with Jeff Wilpon still calling the shots?