New York Mets star Jeff McNeil was forced to leave Thursday afternoon’s game with a bone contusion in his left knee after making a highlight-reel catch in left field in the first inning. He is day-to-day, according to Mets manager Luis Rojas.
With two outs and two on, Asdrubal Cabrera lined a shot into the left-field gap that McNeil was able to flag down but immediately crashed into the wall upon securing the ball.
Without proper time to brace himself for the impact, McNeil’s fell to a heap on the warning track after the hard impact. After sitting up he threw his glove to the down in frustration — a clear sign of a player knowing he suffered a prominent injury. He remained for a few minutes as the Mets’ trainer and manager Luis Rojas rushed out to left field to check on him.
“You pray immediately that this is nothing major. Jeff’s always going to play hard,” Rojas said. “He went all out to make that catch and save the first inning from becoming a bigger one.”
After getting up to try and walk back to the Mets dugout, he keeled over after a few steps while favoring his leg and went back down, prompting the cart to retrieve him and take him to the clubhouse.
Mets manager Luis Rojas revealed after the Mets’ 8-2 win that x-rays and an MRI on McNeil’s knee came back negative.
“It’s a good thing it came back negative,” Rojas said. “He’s very encouraged about getting the result from the x-ray.”
He was replaced in the lineup by Billy Hamilton, who will go to center field while Brandon Nimmo — who started in center — shifted to left.
