New York Mets catcher James McCann underwent successful surgery on the hamate bone of his left wrist on Tuesday morning, manager Buck Showalter confirmed before their team’s doubleheader against the St. Louis Cardinals.
The original timetable given for his return to action was set at six weeks, and Showalter will keep the number at that despite McCann expressing a desire to get back sooner and the success of the procedure.
“There’s a timeline they give that I’m sure you all get. It’s the safety of what the norm and industry tells you,” Showalter said. “Some might be a little more depending on what they find when they go in for the surgery. Then there is the real one that there’s a chance it could be earlier but we’re going to stay underneath.
“We’ll say six weeks. But I don’t want him thinking it’s a failure if it’s six-and-a-half weeks.”
The 31-year-old backstop was placed on the 10-day IL Friday after an x-ray revealed a broken bone in his hand. He had complained of soreness last week that prompted the Mets to order an exam.
“The small bones in the hands are very hard to predict,” Showalter said. “It’s like an appendix. Why do you have it? The hamate bone, I’m sure there’s some purpose it serves. I promised I’d stay out of medical stuff but here I go.”
McCann was slashing .196/.266/.286 with one home run and six RBI in 21 games this season. Tomas Nido has assumed starting-catching responsibilities in his absence with Patrick Mazeika backing him up.
