The Mets continue to roll but so do the injuries.
Tuesday night’s 7-2 10-inning win over the Washington Nationals — the Mets’ seventh victory in their last 10 games — saw two key names sidelined.
Veteran designated hitter JD Martinez was scratched with a sore ankle, which he encountered after being forced to change cleats.
“If I’m being quite frank, I haven’t gotten my shipment of cleats in and I had to try a new cleat yesterday,” Martinez said. “Nothing happened [Monday]. Felt great, cleats felt great, and I woke up [Tuesday] morning and my ankle was sore… Went to go hit in the cage and there was a sharp pain in my ankle.”
Martinez normally wears an Adidas cleat but had to order something else quickly off of Amazon, adding that “moving and hitting on a brand-new shoe is different.”
He admitted that he is uncertain when he will get back in the lineup, but he has received treatment for it.
The 36-year-old has played a big part in getting the Mets’ season back on track. He signed late in spring training and encountered a back issue during an abbreviated ramp-up period that forced his season debut back to late April.
Since May 31 (26 games), he has a .949 OPS with six home runs and 25 RBI.
In the fourth inning of Tuesday night’s game, the Mets also lost their starting center fielder, Harrison Bader, after he collided with the center field wall while trying to track down a Nick Senzel double in the previous frame.
He was removed from the game for what the Mets initially described as precautionary reasons, but manager Carlos Mendoza said he was “day-to-day” due to the discomfort felt in his neck/upper back area.
Bader, however, did not seem too concerned about the injury.
“I respect the medical staff but as far as if it were up to me, I’m good to go,” he said. “I feel great… We’re good. We’re doing good.”
This is the first substantial issue that Bader is facing during his first year with the Mets, which has provided seldom-seen health. The 30-year-old has missed his fair share of playing time due to injuries in the past having played fewer than 100 games in each of the last two seasons.
He has played in 74 of the Mets’ first 83 games this season after he played in 98 games last year with the Yankees and Cincinnati Reds.
