Yet another injury hit the Mets on Monday night when outfielder Johneshwy Fargas hit the outfield wall while chasing down a Garrett Hampson triple.
With the team's first through fourth-string center fielders all out with injury, manager Luis Rojas was going to have to get creative if New York pulled even with the Rockies and sent Monday's game to extra innings.
Rojas and the coaching staff had to start telling their pitchers to get ready to take the field.
"We ran out of players there," Rojas said. "We had pitchers heads up just in case something happened, to come in and play a position if we tied the game and went to extras."
Brandon Drury was the backup outfield option, but other positions would have need to be filled as the team's injured list grows longer by the day. After surging into first place, the Mets have lost seven of their last 10 as more emergency backups are brought in to aid a roster that has been decimated by injury, especially in the outfield, with Fargas being the latest casualty.
"It's challenging, man," Rojas said. "These things keep happening, and it's happened a lot because of the way we play. The guys play hard. They play up to one speed. So the guys understand that. Even if we react in the moment like 'Oh, not again,' I think we just get back into it…it's tough, it's challenging, yes, losing another guy in the middle of the game there and having some moving parts."
Fargas suffered a left AC joint sprain after banging into the outfield wall, and the outfield core is so banged up that the Mets already pulled off an emergency trade for veteran outfielder Cameron Maybin, who was batting under .200 in the minors for before coming over from the Cubs. New York acquired Maybin for one dollar, but so far, that price is one more than his hit total, as he has gone 0-for-19 with 11 strikeouts so far.
But with so many injuries to key players, Maybin has to take the field, and if certain situations arise in the near future, pitchers may have to join him. But Rojas doesn't see the mounting injuries taking a toll on those that are still available, even after losing to a team that had won just two games on the road all season.
"I think we have the right attitude towards anything that comes our way," Rojas said. "This is happening, it's real, but the attitude of the team hasn't changed…next man up for this position."
The next challenge for Rojas will be putting together a lineup for Tuesday. James McCann was put at first base on Monday for the first time in his major and minor league career, and with another injury added to the list, the lineup could get even more interesting in the days to come.
"We'll have a team out there tomorrow," Rojas said.
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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