The Mets currently have 13 players on the injured list, but it seems at least a few of those players are on the right track to returning to the team.
Starting with Jared Young, who has been on the IL since April 13 with a torn meniscus in his left knee, the 30-year-old has already begun a rehab assignment and is currently with Triple-A Syracuse working on his timing at the plate.
Nearing a return in either late May or early June, manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters before Sunday’s series finale against the Miami Marlins how he expects to utilize Young once he rejoins the team.
“Most likely going to play against righties. First base, DH, coming off the bench – we’ll use him for sure,” the skipper said.
Before landing on the IL, Young had been hitting well for New York, slashing .350/.391/.450 with two doubles in 11 games – all against right-handed pitching.
After Young went down, Mark Vientos took over at first base and took on a more prominent role in the lineup, mostly hitting cleanup. MJ Melendez was also called up in Young’s absence but after he hit the ground running, Melendez has struggled at the plate with just one hit in his last 29 at-bats.
Both Vientos and Melendez are in Sunday’s lineup with Melendez a late addition following Juan Soto’s late removal due to an illness. Mendoza said that the whole team has been “battling for the past week” with the “kind of like a flu going around,” although he wasn’t making excuses for the offense scoring just two runs in the first two games of the series.
Not in the lineup is Nick Morabito who has started just twice since his promotion to the big leagues on May 19. Morabito, who bats from the right side, is still searching for his first major league hit (0-for-7).
So, when Young and other injured Mets return, how will Mendoza be sure to give everybody enough at-bats to stay consistent?
“That’s the balance. That’s the balance here, trying to get all of them playing time, including Morabito,” Mendoza said. “We know how important playing time is going to be for him and we’ll continue to just treat it day-by-day.”
As for another injured player, Jorge Polanco had a positive development in his recovery from Achilles bursitis.
“Polanco is in Port St. Lucie today getting live at-bats,” Mendoza said. “So that’s a positive there. [We’ll] see how he comes out of that one and hopefully he can go on a rehab assignment here pretty soon.”
