Yoenis Cespedes remains sidelined; fluid drained from bruised leg
The Mets' Yoenis Cespedes aggravated his leg injury on this slide Friday night in Atlanta. Cespedes is day-to-day and could miss the entire Reds series at Citi Field. Credit: AP / John Bazemore
Yoenis Cespedes wasn’t in the lineup Monday night and probably will miss at least the next two or three games after doctors drained what Terry Collins classified as “a lot of fluid” from his bruised right leg.
Though Cespedes told reporters in Atlanta Sunday that he was feeling much better and could return to the lineup Monday, Collins and general manager Sandy Alderson put the kibosh on that hours before the Mets took on the Reds for the opening game of a nine-game homestand.
Cespedes injured his leg diving into the stands on April 13 and re-aggravated the injury Friday, sliding into second base.
“If you would’ve saw the swelling you would understand why he had no chance of playing,” said Collins, who started Alejandro De Aza in Cespedes’ place. “There are bruises you get where there’s a buildup of fluid . . . it got near the joint and that’s why he was doing all the limping.”
Both Alderson and Collins classified the injury as day to day with Alderson adding it’s possible that Cespedes will miss the entire Reds series. Alderson doesn’t anticipate a stint in the disabled list, but did not rule it out.
Cespedes was briefly spotted in the tunnel during batting practice, still sporting a limp. He did not have an MRI and the Mets don’t believe there to be structural damage.
“I don’t see it being a DL [but] that could change, obviously if [we get] a different medical opinion as time goes on, but we’ll see,” Alderson said. “Fortunately, we have the depth that we anticipated that we would need so we’ve been able to survive his absence over the last several days and I’m sure we can do our best to survive the next two or three.”
Extra bases
Alderson won’t call the success of his middle infield a surprise, but he did say he’s “pleasantly pleased” with the production he’s gotten out of second baseman Neil Walker — who hit his eighth home run Monday night and his seventh in his last ten games — and shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera.
“Obviously, Neil has hit some home runs and Cabrera is way over .300 but it’s a long season,” he said. “At the same time, they’ve been very steady in the infield which is what we’re looking for. They’ve both shown great hands and ability to make the routine play.”
Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.
