The Mets injured list total is about to match the amount of years Keith Hernandez played in the majors.
Hernandez, the 17-year big leaguer who has watched the Mets’ injury total skyrocket from up close, has seen plenty of wild baseball seasons since breaking into the league in 1974 and now taking in games from the broadcast booth, but the injury wave that has washed over the Mets is unlike anything he has seen before.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Hernandez told Carton & Roberts on the show’s debut simulcast on SNY. “You have 16 people on the IL, and they’re all critical. It’s just unbelievable.”
The Mets injuries include big-time contributors like Jacob deGrom, Taijuan Walker, Pete Alonso, Michael Conforto and J.D. Davis, forcing the team to put together lineups like the one they posted for Monday night, which includes catcher James McCann making his first start at first base in his entire pro baseball career, not to mention batting third while batting .200 on the season.
“They’re not scoring runs because they have this Band-Aid lineup right now,” Hernandez said. “They get their guys back, I can’t help but think they’re going to score runs.”
Despite New York’s injury troubles and a 3-6 road trip, the team still returns home to host the lowly Rockies while holding a 1.5 game lead in the NL East, making the ever-growing IL seemingly more manageable, even if the team has had to get creative with its deployment of McCann, while also bringing in veteran journeymen like Cameron Maybin, who the Mets brought in from the Cubs for one dollar.
“It’s certainly very fortunate that everyone is kind of mediocre in this division,” Hernandez said. “Everybody thought this was going to be the best division in the National League, and it turned out it’s not. So it’s very fortunate they can have these injuries and still be in first place. So you can tread water and hold the fort and not be in a position where you’re five out and could be 10 out before you get your guys back.”
General manager Zack Scott gave more bad news on Monday, saying Conforto, Jeff McNeil and Carlos Carrasco will all be out until at least late June, but deGrom is expected to return on Tuesday, and Alonso could be back next week. With some major contributors nearing a return and a manageable stretch of games on deck, the Mets could somehow come out of this injury swoon with their division lead maintained.
“They’re going into a stretch right now where they have Colorado in now for four, who has the worst record on the road, 2-17, I can’t imagine that,” Hernandez said. “Then Arizona and in between is the Braves, and Arizona isn’t a very good team. That gives them some more breathing room, but they have to go out there and win.”
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