Reese Kaplan -- The Injury Train Is Getting Mighty Full

As spring training prepares to enter it’s final two weeks there are decisions that need to be made in preparing for the 2025 season.  Some are out of necessity due to the unavailability of various players due to injuries.  You know all the names here — Frankie Montas, Sean Manaea, Francisco Alvarez, Nick Madrigal and others on long term TJS recoveries.  Then there are the ones dealing with aggravating but still lesser ills like Brandon Nimmo, Starling Marte, Dedniel Nunez and A.J. Minter.

What’s interesting is how the front office plans to approach these various roster vacancies.  In the case of the two starting pitchers, it appears that no outside reinforcements are expected.  Instead it’s a battle between Tylor Megill, Griffin Canning, Paul Blackburn and starter-turned reliever Max Kranick.  While the Manaea injury is hopefully significantly less severe than the one facing Montas, it’s understandable that it is a bit unwieldy to add to the payroll for what might only be a couple of weeks. 

The Francisco Alvarez situation is a bit more challenging as he’s slated to be out eight weeks for his hamate fracture to heal properly.  Joey Gallo has been out of action since July of last year recovering from a similar injury.  Looking for a substitute might be viable since the in-house options do not have much of a track record playing in the majors other than starter-by-default Luis Torrens.  Then again, if you did find a free agent or easily acquired trade candidate, what do you do with him or Torrens when Alvarez returns? 

The toughest types of injuries to project and plan for are the seemingly minor ones.  Take Starling Marte, for example.  With a bone bruise on his knee he’s likely not going to be stealing bases which is one of the stronger attributes of his offensive game.  Even minimizing his running by having him perform as a DH against southpaws only gives him plenty of rest, but is a .275 singles hitter who can’t run really what you envision for a designated hitter?

Brandon Nimmo is also having his knee woes in addition to the plantar fasciitis he’s been fighting since last year when his batting average dropped about 50 points (though he did have his best-ever output for home runs and RBIs).  He also won’t be anticipating doing much sprinting on the basepaths and depending on which story you choose to believe it is rumored that his healing is not progressing as steadily as had been hoped. 

Then there are the pitchers like Dedniel Nunez and A.J. Minter whose presence were both expected at the major league opening day level but who are slowly returning to the workload necessary to prepare for the season.  In these cases the club has a plethora of bullpen options who may not provide equal level of execution, but it is surely wiser to swallow hard and endure a lesser talent than to rush back a pitcher before he’s physically ready which could either aggravate the current injury or cause another one as he alters his delivery to compensate. Minter has just thrown for the first time yesterday and opening day is two weeks away. 

One thing that has come from the front office is the belief that minor league blue chippers are not advised to come up to the big club if they’re not going to play.  Take Luisangel Acuna as an example.  He would seem to be the ideal backup shortstop, second baseman and even third baseman, but given the expectation that the regulars would not be needing much time off you might find Acuna glued to the bench, pinch running or taking 8th and 9th inning defensive duties in already-decided games.  While he came to the Mets with a solid batting average, his 2024 was unremarkable and the hope is that by starting every day he will up his offensive output. 

Now Brett Baty is in a different situation as he has had time up in the majors in the past and has accomplished pretty much all he can at AAA.  His hot spring combined with his age being 25 suggests he is slated to come north to Citifield where he can back up at 2nd, 3rd and DH with apparently Jeff McNeil being designated the backup at shortstop.  Baty is playing himself into a future piece, trade bait or the exit door.

So right now it’s possible to see one of the NRI outfielders get a temporary shot, particularly if Nimmo and/or Marte start the season on the IL.  That approach would be consistent with the preference being AAAA players with more experience rather than youngsters like Drew Gilbert or Jett Williams. 

There are still quite a few decisions to be made.  Last season was different when the Mets were clearly without Lindor in September and it gave Acuna the opportunity to start every day with Vientos solidly entrenched at third and Jose Iglesias sharing second base with Jeff McNeil whenever the latter was asked to play the outfield.  Since the club came within 2 games of making the World Series, you’d tend to allow the front office the opportunity to steer the ship once again.