Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
New York Mets acting General Manager Zack Scott traveled with the team and spoke with reporters briefly at Oracle Park prior to Monday night’s series-opening matchup with the San Francisco Giants.
Scott addressed numerous different topics including injury updates on ace Jacob deGrom, shortstop Javier Báez, and catcher Tomas Nido. Let’s start with the good news.
Scott said shortstop Javy Báez should be able to return from his stint on the injury list fairly quickly. Báez was placed on the IL four days ago with hip discomfort and then was dealing with lower back tightness.
He returned to the field and was getting some infield work in pregame on Monday. Báez is first eligible to be activated off the injured list on Sunday for the series finale against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Speaking of pregame Monday, the Mets placed catcher Tomas Nido on the 10-day injured list prior to the series opener in San Fran.
Nido suffered a sprained right thumb, though Scott said the injury wasn’t too serious. The Mets were debating whether or not they would even place Nido on the IL, but they decided not to play short-handed.
Jacob deGrom had another routine doctor’s appointment on Monday morning with Dr. David Altcheck. The inflammation in his elbow is still improving but deGrom will continue his two-week shutdown.
With the end of the regular season approaching very quickly, Scott said the calendar is definitely working against the ace right-hander.
“The calendar is working against him. It’s always hard to crystal ball these things. You have to just take it as he progresses and the intensity level starts going up each step and see how he feels,” Scott said.
He added that with deGrom, the team has to balance the short-term and the long-term impact of a potential return.
“With a player that’s under contract next year, we need to always balance the short-term and the long-term. We want to get him back, but if it gets to a certain point where there’s symptoms again because of intensity ramping up, then yeah we might have to pull back.”
