The Mets have now lost 3 in a row as the Rockies beat the Amazins 3-2 with injury news getting worse with both pre-game news and more in game injuries. David Peterson went six innings and the Mets rallied to cut a 3-0 lead to 3-2 on solo homers from both Brandon Drury and James McCann but fell short as McCann struck out to end the game with the tying run on second base.
Prior to the game, Mets GM Zack Scott gave us a timetable on some of his injured players which was disappointing to say the least. Michael Conforto and Jeff McNeil are still nursing hamstring injuries and Scott said, “I think those guys will be out for a while as they are significant hamstring strains so I think we are looking at late June.”
The news on pitcher Carlos Carrasco is not much better, The righthander, who has not thrown a pitch for the Mets this season, will likely need a bunch of rehab appearances before he gets to CitiField. . Scott said about that injury, “We are looking at late June or early July as he is working real hard and is feeling good. However these things come down to when you start ramping up the intensity and then you see how they feel from there.”
The ironic twist here is that both Seth Lugo and Noah Syndergaard may very well return sooner than any of the players that I already mentioned which is mind boggling. Scott inferred that we might see Lugo soon likely in the next few weeks while Syndergaard’s mid June return is still very much in play.
Of course, Jacob deGrom returns to the mound on Tuesday here at Citi versus the Rockies and the Mets hope he could put an end to the team’s recent losing ways.
And even with that somber pre-game news the Mets lost yet another player to injury as Johneshwy Fargas suffered an AC joint sprain in his left shoulder after crashing into the outfield wall trying to make a catch. This will limit their outfield depth and likely force Luis Rojas to put Cameron Maybin in center who has not hit at all since arriving here last week. And by at all I mean just that–not one base hit as a Met since he starting wearing the Orange and Blue.
The question remains with this team is can they survive this rash of injuries and hold down the fort until those players return to the active roster. Yes the Mets are still in first place but you have to wonder if they need to add to their roster from outside the organization. Zack Scott told us he is working the phones but it is my thought that most teams are still analyzing their own situations and it is far too early to make a dramatic move.
” The biggest challenge is there is a big need right now”, said Scott “but you only have so many players you are willing to trade. You only have so many dollars you are willing to take on. But the risk of waiting given all of our injuries is that we could be in a different spot of where we want to be, come the end of July.”
And by the end of July Scott is referring to the trade deadline but if I were him, I would consider the trade deadline is right upon him and he must get super creative in adding some offense to this lineup that simply does not have enough bullets in its holster. And by creative I mean a legitimate bat not a cast off from another team.
Will this be easy to do? Absolutely not but it is totally necessary. On Tuesday night, Jacob deGrom takes the hill and will try to restore some sanity to the Met season. A great performance from him will do wonders for this team but they simply can not drop home games to a team like the Rockies whose record on the road of 3-17 speaks for itself.
Yes the players in the lineup need to hold down the fort and the Mets desperately need guys like Francisco Lindor, Brian McCann and Dom Smith to lead the charge. They are the remaining regular players in this lineup and they need to seize the chance to take control of this offense for Luis Rojas. That is a trio of players would should all watch very closely in the next few days as the only injured player that could return this week is JD Davis and even that return has some doubts.
In crisis moments, players get chances to show their worth and both McCann and Lindor need to step up and seize the moment as Luis Rojas needs them to jump start an offense that has been missing in action for the past few games.