UPDATED 3:00 PM
Good news for the Mets… Center fielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis was diagnosed with a bone bruise in his left knee and avoided any ligament damage. Adam Rubin reported the news after Nieuwenhuis returned from his MRI.
Mets will treat him with anti-inflammatory medication and he’ll miss a couple of days. Looks like the team dodged a bullet….
JD
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Yesterday brought some tough news for those concerned with the already troubled state of the Mets outfield, as Kirk Nieuwenhuis was carted off the field after the seventh inning of the Mets-Marlins match-up. He left with what was originally being diagnosed as a bruised left knee injury, but the severity of the injury is still unclear. He will have an MRI and further tests performed today. The Mets ended up dropping the game to the Marlins, 6-4, but the primary concern post-game was the condition of Kirk’s knee.
According to Adam Rubin, Kirk tried to downplay the injury when asked about it, but he was having trouble simply bending it. Rubin also noted that it was “giving a little.” We should have an update on the diagnosis by late this morning.
“It was on the slide,” Nieuwenhuis said. “I just hit it on something. Hopefully it’s just a bad bruise. When I went to go take my lead, it just kind of buckled a little bit, but I think the ligaments are OK. I haven’t seen a doctor yet, but I think I just have got a bad bruise. … I don’t think it’s that bad.”
This is disappointing, to say the least, as Kirk was already struggling to this point in Spring Training with just a .056 average.
Depending on the amount of time Kirk may miss, this could really open the door for Marlon Byrd or Matt den Dekker. Both left-handed hitters would seem to gain in any scenario that would see Kirk missing significant time. Nieuwenhuis was expected to platoon with right-handed Collin Cowgill this season.
