Surging Cano may go on IL
Robinson Cano has found his sweet swing again, but his body won’t let him enjoy it.
The Mets veteran second baseman ripped his third hit off the right-field wall of PNC Park in the fourth inning of the series finale against the Pirates on Sunday. Cano kicked it into gear for what should have been his fourth double in as many at-bats. Instead, Cano rounded first base and grimaced in pain before he stopped running and put his hands on his knees, touching his left hamstring.
Cano exited the game at the height of a hitting tear with a left hamstring strain, the Mets announced. Cano also had a quad injury on the same leg in late May that caused him to miss nearly one month of competition.
Jeff McNeil moved from right field to replace Cano at second base, Michael Conforto swapped center field for right and Juan Lagares took over in center.
Cano may be forced to miss a solid chunk of the remaining 51 games in the Mets schedule depending on the severity of his injury. Hamstring injuries usually sideline big-league players for three weeks, which would extend Cano’s departure from the lineup until at least the end of the August.
The 36-year-old had struggled mightily to begin the first half of his inaugural season with the Mets. Cano batted .240/.287/.360 with four home runs, 18 RBI and 47 strikeouts over 65 games before the All-Star break. Recently, though, Cano was clicking at the plate again.
He left Sunday’s game with nine hits in his last 15 at-bats. Cano smashed his 11th home run of the year on Thursday afternoon against the White Sox to help carry the Mets to their seventh straight win. He’s slashing .263/.294/.538 with an .832 OPS, six homers and 14 RBI over 21 games since the All-Star break.
His latest injury cast a shadow on an otherwise spirited Mets game.
The Mets’ depth is thin with Dominic Smith handicapped with a stress reaction in his left foot. In addition to calling up reinforcements from Triple-A Syracuse (Luis Guillorme comes to mind), the Mets can opt for McNeil or Adeiny Hechavarria to takeover for Cano at second base.