The laundry list of injured Mets is only getting longer.
New York is placing both Jeff McNeil and Michael Conforto on the injured list Monday, per multiple reports, after they suffered hamstring injuries during Sunday’s loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.
Both players left the game in the first inning. Conforto pulled up lame when trying to beat out a double-play ball and was visibly upset — throwing his helmet down in disgust when entering the dugout. McNeil followed him to an early shower shortly after.
“Just over the course of the season you get little sorenesses, tightnesses, and normal stuff you deal with,” Conforto said on Monday. “I had been keeping some things in check — my lower back, sometimes my hammies would be tight, my calf was still a little tight from my collision with [Kevin] Pillar. I just tried to stay ahead of those things, I thought I had a good grip on that stuff and something obviously wasn’t right going down to first and unfortunately, it grabbed on me.”
Conforto admitted that multiple doctors were looking at an MRI he took earlier on Monday before making a call on the hamstring which he called “very frustrating.”
While he couldn’t pinpoint what made his hamstring go, Conforto took a moment to take a dig at the artificial playing surface at Tropicana Field.
“The ground there is a lot harder than it would be on a grass field,” he said. “I don’t know exactly what it was that caused the injury, but I’m sure that didn’t help. At this point, I’m looking to move forward and crush the rehab and do everything I can to get back healthy first.”
McNeil had missed the previous two games because of cramps, but both he and manager Luis Rojas said Sunday morning that he felt good enough to DH in Tampa. McNeil further went on to say that he was preparing to return to his natural position at second base for the Mets’ series opener in Atlanta against the Braves on Monday night depending on how he felt after Sunday’s game.
Conforto and McNeil’s trips to the injured list now bring the Mets’ season tally up to 12, which includes two other starting positional players in third baseman J.D. Davis and center fielder Brandon Nimmo. Most notably, ace Jacob deGrom was put on the IL last week after dealing with right-side tightness.
While his stay on the shelf is expected to be a short one, the Mets are hoping they’ll get three other invaluable arms back in the fold off the injured list shortly. Both starter Carlos Carrasco and reliever Seth Lugo could make their season debuts by the end of the month while Noah Syndergaard is slated to return in June after he underwent Tommy John surgery last year.
