MLB players were set to leave for their World Baseball Classic teams late Sunday night, but we found out Monday morning that Mets LHP Jose Quintana was not among them due to injury.
Quintana, who was set to play for his native Colombia, posted on Instagram that he has withdrawn from the WBC due to an issue with the left side of his back.
In a message posted in Spanish and translated to English, Quintana’s statement read that he is pulling out of the Classic “dealing with a bother on the left side of my back,” and he was hoping to feel better to be able to play but had to make “a very difficult decision” to bow out.
The left-hander exited Sunday’s start with left side tightness and was expected to get tests on Monday, and manage Buck Showalter said it was too early to know the severity after Sunday’s game.
Quintana has made two starts this spring, getting roughed up for five runs in two-thirds of an inning on Feb. 28 and then pitching a scoreless inning on Sunday before being pulled.
He is one of two Mets starters now among the walking wounded, as David Peterson is also on the mend with what the team termed a foot contusion after being hit by a line drive during Saturday’s game.
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