New York Mets designated hitter Jesse Winker was removed from the first game of Thursday’s doubleheader in Baltimore against the Orioles for what the team initially described as back tightness.
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza disclosed following the 3-1 loss that Winker would be sent back to New York for imaging and could very well return to the injured list.
The 31-year-old left-handed bat had taken one at-bat before being pinch-hit for by Mark Vientos in the fourth inning.
Winker once again finds himself in legitimate injury trouble just two days after making a return from the injured list for a strained oblique. The injury forced him to miss more than two months of action.
Acquired from the Washington Nationals at last year’s trade deadline, Winker has appeared in just 26 games this season, entering Thursday’s action batting .232 with a .718 OPS, one home run, and 10 RBI.
He was supposed to be one-half of a DH platoon alongside veteran Starling Marte, whose extensive injury history over the past three years has made him a prime right-handed half of that equation. But the injury bug has caught up with him, too, as he was placed on the 10-day IL with a bruised right knee on Tuesday, the same day Winker returned.
“It’s funny how things work,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza mused at the time. “You gain one, you lose one.”
Now, he is potentially facing a future with neither option, meaning the Mets will have to turn to some of their younger bats once again to pick up the DH slack. Vientos is a prime candidate to step in, but he has significantly regressed this season after pounding 27 home runs last year. He was batting .210 with six home runs and 21 RBI in 61 games entering Thursday.
Ronny Mauricio is a left-handed option for consideration, as well. The versatile infielder’s bat has come alive in recent days, batting .344 with a 1.010 OPS, two home runs, and three RBI in his previous 10 games.
