Mets' Matt Adams given clean bill of health but it puts him a week behind others
The Mets' Matt Adams bats during a spring training game against the Miami Marlins at Clover Park in Port St. Lucie, FL. on Saturday Feb. 22, 2020. Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa Loarca
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Matt Adams called it “probably the scariest week of my life.”
The 31-year-old first baseman was in Mets camp on a non-roster contract when he was scratched from the lineup on Feb. 27. Adams was told he needed to undergo additional cardiac tests after something came up on his spring training physical.
The same thing had happened to Brandon Nimmo a day earlier. Nimmo, who again was checked out in Port St. Lucie, was cleared within two days and returned to get ready for the season.
Adams had to travel back to New York for additional testing and ended up waiting a week before he, too, was cleared.
“Better to be safe than sorry,” Adams said on Saturday. “But it’s just frustrating that I missed a week. I felt good coming into camp and nothing really felt off leading up to that, but it’s nice to know that I’m healthy.”
Adams, who said he wanted to keep the details of his cardiac issue private, had an uphill battle to make the team even before missing a week. The lefthanded hitter spent last season with the Nationals and hit .226 with 20 home runs, 56 RBIs and a .741 OPS in 111 games.
Adams leads all active major leaguers with 11 pinch-hit homers and 49 pinch-hit RBIs. With the Mets, he duplicates the skills of Dominic Smith. Adams had planned to play some leftfield down here to increase his versatility, but time is running short before the March 26 season opener.
“I’ve got to go out there and just focus day-by-day,” he said. “If I get too far ahead of myself, I’m not going to be where I want. Hit the ground running. I’ve been having really good days since I’ve been back and cleared to go, so I can control what I can control and leave everything else up to the people who make the decisions.”
Adams said he has never had a heart issue. After a nervously spent week, he’s sure he doesn’t have one now.
“It was new to me,” he said. “But it’s nice to be able to know that I’ve got a clean bill of health.”
Extra bases
Manager Luis Rojas said J.D. Davis (shoulder) will return to the lineup and play leftfield on Sunday. Davis has been out since Feb. 25 . . . Jeff McNeil returned to camp one day after being sent home with flu-like symptoms that have been going around the clubhouse. He might return to the lineup Sunday . . . Third base prospect Mark Vientos walked in the ninth inning against the Nationals' Dakota Bacus in his first spring training plate appearance. Vientos, 20, was the Mets' minor-league hitter of the year in 2019 . . . Three pitchers were sent to minor-league camp: righthanders Ryley Gilliam and Adonis Uceta, and lefthander Kevin Smith.
With Tim Healey
Anthony Rieber covers sports media and business and professional sports (you know, games and trades and things). He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since Jan. 1, 2026.
