Word on injuries to Pete Alonso, Starling Marte better than expected for Mets
Mets' Pete Alonso takes a breath as he bats during the third inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres, Monday, June 6, 2022, in San Diego. Credit: AP/Gregory Bull
SAN DIEGO -- The Mets look to have gotten the break they were looking for, rather the one they very much feared.
Pete Alonso, who was struck by Yu Darvish’s 95.7-mph slider in the second inning of Tuesday night’s game against the Padres, does not have a broken hand, the first baseman confirmed Wednesday, and could potentially avoid a stint on the injured list. Meanwhile, Starling Marte, who left Tuesday night’s game with left quad tightness, believes he could be back to normal as soon as Thursday.
“I’m kind of surprised in a good way with how it feels today,” Alonso said. “I think in a day or two we’ll know where we’re at with the longevity of this thing.”
Buck Showalter, while acknowledging the good news, said the team will continue to approach both injuries with caution.
“This is as positive a news today as we could hope to get but we’ll play them both by ear,” Showalter said. “We’ll see what they say tomorrow and see how things progress…We’ll lean on the players and the medical team.”
X-rays and a CT scan on Alonso’s right hand were negative, and the Mets did not reveal the results of Marte’s MRI, though it’s unlikely to have shown significant damage. Alonso, who’s broken his left hand three times, said this injury mimicked the one he sustained last year, also the result of a hit by pitch. He tried to play through it for weeks before eventually landing on the injured list with a hand sprain, and he’s looking to avoid a similar fate. Alonso hit just .132 playing while hurt last year.
“I didn’t really do a whole lot of good for my team (last year) because I was kind of a shell of myself for about three weeks and then going on the IL and having to play catch up on the recovery process,” Alonso said. We’re just going to nip this thing in the bud now, get it recovered, get the swelling out and we should be good to go.”
The point of impact, which occurred as he tried to check his swing, was on the meaty part of his hand, he said – the fifth metacarpal. The area is swollen and painful, and Alonso appeared to be wearing a compression glove Wednesday.
The Mets will certainly miss his bat for however long he’s out: He’s compiled a slash line of .282/.363/.546 this year, leads the National League in home runs with 16, and all of baseball in RBIs with 54. Alonso sitting also means he snaps his 151 consecutive game streak. He still thinks his goal to play 162 games this year is in reach, and it’s partially the reason he wants to make sure he heals correctly.
“I still feel like I’ll play more than 162 games because we’ve got the playoffs,” Alonso said. “I want to be prepared for the long haul.”
Marte, meanwhile, hurt himself in the first inning Tuesday, when he was caught stealing second and strained himself attempting to stay on the bag. He tried to play through the pain for a half inning, but he struggled to walk and was quickly lifted. By Wednesday, he could walk better and said definitively that he didn’t think an IL stint was in his future. He received treatment in the morning and responded well, he said.
“I feel good,” Marte said through an interpreter. “It could have been worse, obviously. For now, it’s day to day. We’ve been working pretty much all morning to get it right and I’m going to continue to work on it and I’ll be back on Thursday.”
Since neither player is immediately headed to the IL, the Mets bench will be thin in the interim; Wednesday, it was just Patrick Mazeika and Khalil Lee, who was called up from Triple-A Syracuse. Marte's absence also means one less strong arm in the outfield, and less speed on the basepaths. They'll also be down a bullpen arm, as Adonis Medina was optioned to make room for Lee. Jeff McNeil played left Wednesday and Mark Canha moved to right, Marte’s usual position. J.D. Davis took over at first for the third straight day.
Showalter said that there may be more moves after the off day Thursday as the Mets get a clearer picture of what they’re dealing with.
Either way, it’s better than they expected.
“I’m just really blessed and happy that nothing is fractured,” Alonso said. “This is probably the best-case scenario for sure…Obviously, I love to play. I feel like I want to be out there. I just want to make sure my body is healthy because I love being out there with these guys.”
Laura Albanese is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. She's been covering MLB since 2014 after starting at Newsday as an intern seven years earlier.
