While the New York Mets defeated the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday, it came at a cost. Star slugger Yoenis Cespedes left the game with a wrist injury.
“I don’t know what the issue is,” Collins said, per Adam Rubin, ESPN. “I’m certainly concerned about it. Any time when you’re a hitter — and you’re a big hitter — and your hands and your wrists have problems, it’s a concern.”
Rubin also added that Cespedes is seeing a doctor and that the injury is similar to what he dealt with last year.
An injury to Cespedes is the last thing that the Mets need right now. New York had a hard enough time maintaining offensive consistency when everyone was healthy. Even before Cespedes, the Mets were already dealing with a rash of injuries and pondering a reunion with troubled former Met Jose Reyes.
The good news is that if a player is going to deal with a nagging injury, now is a pretty good time. We are only a few weeks away from the All-Star break.
Assuming the injury is not serious, the Mets can keep Cespedes in the field, only being liberal with days off until then. Once the break rolls around, he’ll have a few days to recover. Of course, that all assumes that injury is only nagging and not more serious.
New York needs Cespedes in the lineup and 100 percent healthy. If he’s going to miss time, then the Mets need to aggressively pursue a trade or risk getting left behind.
New York is already four back of the Washington Nationals in the National League East. They do currently occupy a Wild Card spot, but that race figures to be jam packed with teams. If the Mets go into a funk, one of the many pursuers will likely chase them down.