QUEENS — New York Mets slugger Pete Alonso didn’t wait long to get back to work after being placed on the 10-day IL with a wrist injury that was originally slated to hold him out for three to four weeks.
Roughly four hours before the first pitch of the Subway Series between the Mets and Yankees on Tuesday night, the first baseman was out participating in infield practice, taking grounders. It was the wrist of his glove hand that was bruised and sprained when he was hit by a Charlie Morton 97-mph fastball during Wednesday’s loss in Atlanta to the Braves.
“He’s progressing well,” Mets manager Buck Showalter said. “He’s starting to do some things… just the starting of activities.”
Alonso is eligible to come off the IL on June 18, but Showalter was non-committal about whether or not he’d be able to return closer to that date or if it will take something closer to the three or four weeks originally forecasted.
“We’re too far out… we’re not there yet,” Showalter said. “We’ll take this week and see how he feels moving forward.”
Alonso’s return couldn’t come soon enough for a Mets team that is struggling to stay at a .500 pace more than one-third into the 2023 season. The 28-year-old leads the league with 22 home runs and 49 RBI as the anchor of New York’s sputtering offense, which ranks 17th in the majors in runs scored.
Elsewhere, Jose Quintana was placed on a rehab assignment with the Mets’ Single-A affiliate in Port St. Lucie where he was slated to throw two innings on Tuesday night.
“That’s encouraging,” Showalter said. “It’s a big step for him and I hope it goes well.”
Quintana has yet to make his Mets debut after a benign lesion had to be surgically removed from his rib. The 34-year-old southpaw signed a two-year, $26 million deal with New York during the winter to round out the bottom of their rotation.
