Cano makes swift return to Mets’ injured list
30-17 stretch before Saturday night’s loss.
After the dismal first inning, Rockies starter Jeff Hoffman eventually settled in, holding the Mets in check through the early frames with a sharp curveball. Callaway credited the 26-year-old starter for making adjustments that helped him retire 10 straight at one point early in the game, but praised his team for adjusting back and “getting the game to where we wanted to” in the middle innings.
Carlos Gomez was the first to adjust, fouling off Hoffman’s curve, then sitting on two more before stroking an RBI single to shallow right center to extend the team’s lead to four. Then Frazier’s fifth-inning RBI double down the left field line padded the Mets’, and J.D. Davis’ triple - the first of his career - chased Hoffman later in the frame.
Struggling righty Jeruys Familia tossed a scoreless inning, while Hector Santiago allowed a David Dahl RBI double to end the shutout bid in the ninth. The Mets pitching staff combined for a two-hitter.
Callaway emphasized his belief that Syndergaard is a “top-5 pitcher in all of baseball” when he’s healthy, and that the best is yet to come for his “still developing” young ace. “This isn’t a finished product at all. At some point you’re gonna see Noah Syndergaard do this on a more consistent basis.” On Friday, the Mets seemed confident that Robinson Cano would avoid a return to the injured list for his strained left quad. No such luck.
Cano was placed on the IL on Sunday retroactive to Wednesday’s game, when he lasted just four innings before experiencing discomfort and exiting the match against the Giants. They’ve played shorthanded since but will call up pitcher Tim Peterson to replace their struggling second baseman.
For his part, Mets manager Mickey Callaway didn’t feel the team was shorthanded despite not having a full 25-man roster available.
“Obviously got a pitcher in his stead, and we didn’t really need a pitcher the last couple of days, so we really weren’t playing shorthanded,” Callaway said. “Our pitching was well rested and we were fine to cover everything.”
Cano, a career .303 hitter, is performing well below his sterling career norms, batting just .238 over the increasingly injury-plagued season. Getting him back to his usual, middle-of-the-order self was of the utmost importance for Callaway, and it became clear to him and the organization that the “best route” was a second IL stint.
“It just got to a point where we felt this was the best thing for Robbie,” Callaway said. “We needed Robbie to be back playing 100 percent.”
Callaway also believes that Cano could pinch-hit, but “we need him to be a starter” able to “get four at-bats a night.”
Callaway also acknowledged that the team would place him through a rehab assignment during this recovery, even though they decided against that route last time around. Cano later confirmed this, stating that he would likely join either Syracuse or Binghampton’s minor league team on Tuesday. Despite the detour, Callaway doesn’t believe the Mets rushed Cano back the first time around, stating that the team “did the same thing with [Jeff ] McNeil,” who also jumped from an IL stint to the majors without any apparent setback.
McNeil is out of the lineup Sunday on a scheduled day after night rest day as the team seeks to ease him back from his left hamstring strain.
TAKE A BREAK
With the aforementioned McNeil and Cano out the lineup, Adeiny Hechavarria is starting at second base, while J.D. Davis got the call in left field instead of left-hander Dom Smith, who is getting a breather despite his platoon advantage over Rockies starter Jeff Hoffman. “Smitty obviously had been more of a bench player leading up to the last week or so,” said Callaway of Smith, who struck out three times Saturday. “We’ve taxed him pretty good.”
Meanwhile, the Mets manager cited McNeil’s propensity to get on base as a reason he may need more rest than others. “The thing about Mac,” Callaway said, “is that he’s on base more than others so he’s getting taxed a little bit more than others in any given game.”
Still, he reiterated that his off day is primarily a day after night game precaution. He also praised Davis’ pinch-hit double off Rockies fireballer Jon Gray, hoping that the positive momentum from yesterday would carry over into Sunday’s start.
IS IT TEBOW TIME?
The Mets hosted a Q&A for season ticket holders with GM Brodie Van Wagenen before Sunday’s game.
Fans in attendance had their chance to pepper Van Wagenen with questions. One fan wanted to know when a certain star athlete would make his way to Citi Field. No, not MLB All-Stars Dallas Keuchel or Craig Kimbrel, who signed with National League rival Braves and Cubs, respectively, but minor league outfielder Tim Tebow.
Van Wagenen credited Tebow’s “burning desire to succeed.”
“Hopefully (he) gets on a roll … I think everybody’s hoping for that,” he added.