Since suffering a torn UCL in his left thumb in late April, Alvarez has completed a number of rehab starts, most notably catching a combined no-hitter for the Brooklyn Cyclones back on June 4. He missed seven-and-a-half weeks, right in the six-to-eight week timeline the team originally provided. Now he is determined to join a Mets team that has won six of their last nine games and an offense that has found a bit of a groove.

Francisco Alvarez. Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

With Alvarez rejoining the team, the Mets have decided to DFA Tomás Nido, which means Luis Torrens is the back up catcher for the foreseeable future.

With the absence of Alvarez, Torrens has stepped up for the Mets since the team traded for him back on May 31. Since Torrens has made his Mets debut, the team has a record of 4-2 over the six game stretch, and Luis has reached base safely in five out of those six games.

He is currently slashing .313/.389/.750/1.139 with two home runs and four runs batted in. A small sample size for Torrens, but with Alvarez back in the mix and vital back up catcher option, the Mets are now in a great position to have a solid catching rotation.

Nido being DFA’d in a roster crunch isn’t unfamiliar territory. He was designated for assignment in a similar position last season when Omar Narváez, the team’s recent signee at the time, returned from the injured list. During that time, Alvarez took the lead catching roll. When Narváez returned, Nido was cut. However, he went unclaimed on waivers and was assigned to Triple-A Syracuse, where he’d spent his time until getting called up when Alvarez went on the IL this year.

Nido was slashing .229/.261/.361/.623 with solid defense over the last month.

The post Francisco Alvarez Returns From IL; Tomás Nido DFA’d appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

It’s no secret the New York Mets explored potential upgrades at the third base position over the offseason, but once those efforts proved to be ineffective, they pivoted back to infielder J.D. Davis and were hopeful he could improve off his disappointing 2020 campaign.

Coming into this season with a chip on his shoulder, Davis was determined to put those trade rumors behind him and was aiming to prove his doubters wrong – something most experts didn’t believe was attainable. Though the 28-year-old’s defense remains a huge question mark, as he’s posted a -2 OAA over 242 2/3 innings at the hot corner this season, he made up for those woes with his offense through the first month of the schedule.

Wasting no time out of the gate, the 6’3″ third baseman enjoyed a very productive start to the regular season, and while his offensive production didn’t completely outweigh his shortcomings in the field, they allowed him to remain a positive contributor during this opening stretch.

Serving as one of the top hitters in the Mets’ lineup from Apr. 5 to May 1, Davis performed as a reliable run producer, as he recorded three doubles, two home runs, seven RBIs, a .220 ISO, a .583 BABIP, a .462 wOBA, a 195 wRC+ score and a slashing line of .390/.479/.610/1.089 over his first 48 plate appearances in 2021.

Despite being on this incredible run, unfortunately, the right-hander’s season hit a major snag in early May when he suffered a significant sprain in his left hand, forcing the team to place him on the injured list. Initially, the training staff didn’t expect him to miss more than a few weeks or so, but due to multiple setbacks, the power-slugging infielder was ultimately sidelined through the rest of the first half.

With Davis out of commission, New York’s offense sorely missed his presence within the middle of the batting order, which was one of the key reasons this club struggled scoring runs heading into the Mid-Summer Classic. Luckily, the former third-round pick was ready to return from the IL after the all-star break and was looking to pick up exactly where he left off earlier in the campaign.

Credit: Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports

Making a strong impact shortly after his activation, the former Houston Astro was eased back into action at first as he was limited to pinch-hitting duties, although he put on a remarkable show during his first game back at third base. Carrying this team’s lineup in a losing effort, the offensive-first righty clubbed a pair of home runs, driving in four runs on Jul. 17 against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

While receiving this type of showing from Davis was an encouraging sign, it didn’t prove to be sustainable and saw him endure a very tough stretch at the plate through the remainder of July, causing him to become an unreliable run producer and a major liability.

Unable to break out of his hitting slump, the California State product struggled mightily following his multi-home run performance, resulting in just two extra-base hits, a .054 ISO, a .273 BABIP, a .226 wOBA, a 43 wRC+ score and a miserable slashing line of .162/.262/.216/.478 over his 42 plate appearances from Jul. 18-31.

Adding to his frustration, Davis witnessed a dramatic increase in strikeouts after coming off the IL, causing his strikeout rate to jump from 31.3% through the first month of the season to 35.7% in July. Making matters worse, his ability to create hard contact also dropped off significantly during that same span, as his hard-hit rate decreased by 31.8% (50.0% – 18.2%) and his average exit velocity lowered by 8.9 mph (92.9 – 84.0).

Pleased to turn the calendar to August, the California native has recently displayed some encouraging signs of potentially being on the verge of surpassing this disappointing stretch, which would certainly be a welcomed occurrence. Granted, he’s only compiled 31 plate appearances this month but has been producing similar results dating back to before his unfortunate injury.

Seemingly breaking out of his offensive funk, Davis has been thriving in the batter’s box since Aug. 2, allowing him to generate four doubles, three RBIs, a .167 ISO, a .500 BABIP, a .431 wOBA, a 175 wRC+ score and a slashing line of .333/.484/.500/.984.

One of the biggest causes for this recent turnaround has been the former top prospect’s improved plate discipline, as he’s nearly been able to register more walks than strikeouts lately. In total, he’s earned seven walks and has only struck out eight times since the start of August, resulting in a 22.6% walk rate and a 25.8% strikeout rate.

Along with becoming less susceptible to strikeouts, Davis has also rediscovered his ability to produce high amounts of hard contact, allowing him to record a 50.0% hard-hit rate and an 86.5 mph average exit velocity over 16 batted-ball events.

Putting these impressive metrics into perspective, the Elk Grove HS product has served as one of the top offensive producers on the Mets’ roster, as he’s generated the highest fWAR rating (0.4), wRC+ score, AVG, OBP, BABIP and wOBA, is tied for the second-highest SLG and owns the fourth-highest ISO among all hitters who’ve earned at least 20 plate appearances this month, according to FanGraphs.com.

Since this team is currently in a tight playoff race within the National League East Division, receiving improved results from Davis couldn’t be coming at a better time, especially since they’re taking on the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants several times over these next two weeks.

Paired with some positive results from teammate Michael Conforto, who’s also started to heat up recently, this offense might finally be heading in the right direction during the most crucial time of the season. While injuries to key players remain a huge concern, as shortstop Francisco Lindor likely won’t return until September and Javier Baez continues to deal with lower-back discomfort, other players are beginning to step up when it matters most.

With Davis in particular, second baseman Jeff McNeil or Baez will eventually need to move over to third base once Lindor returns to action, meaning locating consistent playing time for the former outfielder could become extremely difficult down the stretch.

Having said that, if he continues to make a difference with his offense, manager Luis Rojas will likely have no other choice but to find a way to keep the right-hander’s bat in the lineup on a regular basis – that’s a pretty good problem to have for any coaching staff.

The post J.D. Davis Finding His Swing During Pivotal Time For Mets appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

Following a disappointing 2020 campaign, which saw first baseman Pete Alonso endure an extremely frustrating sophomore season, the New York Mets were confident he’d be able to bounce back strong this season but it’s been a bit of a rollercoaster type performance for him so far.

Wasting zero time to make his presence felt, Alonso hit the ground running out of the gate and excelled offensively through the first month of the season, where he produced five home runs, 16 RBIs, a .247 ISO, a .345 BABIP, a .376 wOBA, a 145 wRC+ score and a slashing line of .282/.354/.529/.884 over his first 96 plate appearances.

Thanks to this red-hot start, it seemed the 26-year-old had put last season’s hitting woes behind him and was on track to return to the previous form that he showcased throughout his stellar rookie campaign. But unfortunately, the 2019 National League Rookie of the Year Award winner was hit by a pitch on his left hand on May 5, which ultimately caused a significant decline in his offensive production.

Hindered by his hand injury, Alonso didn’t feel comfortable at the plate and failed to maintain his remarkable performance from the first month of the season, as he recorded just one home run, three RBIs, an .095 ISO, a .167 BABIP, a .260 wOBA, a 68 wRC+ score and a slashing line of .143/.302/.238/.540 over his 53 plate appearances from May 5-18.

If battling through an injured left hand wasn’t difficult enough, the 6′ 3″ first baseman sprained his right hand a few weeks later and was placed on the 10-day injured list on May 18, keeping him sidelined for nearly two weeks. After recovering from both of these injuries, the right-hander returned to New York’s active roster at the end of May and caught fire almost seamlessly once again.

Making up for lost time, the Mets’ offense received a major boost at the start of June as Alonso was crushing everything in sight, resulting in four home runs, 12 RBIs, a .371 ISO, a .321 BABIP, a .484 wOBA, a 216 wRC+ score and a monster slashing line of .371/.405/.743/1.148 over his 37 plate appearances from May 31 to Jun. 10.

Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

With Alonso finally healthy, everyone was hoping he’d be able to continue leading this lineup into the all-star break, however, the talented slugger has fallen into yet another hitting slump and it doesn’t appear his recent struggles can be blamed on a lack of health this time. Unless he’s dealing with another injury and just doesn’t want to disclose it, which is possible, the 2019 NL All-Star is currently experiencing his most concerning power outage of the season and has been an offensive liability during this current slide.

Despite being able to create a respectable 22.6% strikeout rate, keeping it in line with his 22.2% clip for the season, the former second-round pick has been laboring in almost every other offensive category since Jun. 11, as he’s produced only one home run, four RBIs, a .065 ISO, a .235 BABIP, a .242 wOBA, a 56 wRC+ score and a measly slashing line of .196/.283/.261/.544 over his last 53 plate appearances.

Putting these alarming metrics into perspective amongst the rest of his teammates, Alonso’s current hitting slump has made him one of the most ineffective hitters on the Mets’ roster as of late, especially since he owns the worst fWAR rating (-0.3), the second-lowest ISO along with the third-lowest wRC+ score and wOBA among all qualified batters over the last 15 games, according to FanGraphs.com.

Expanding on his worst hitting stretch of the 2021 season, the 2019 Home Run Derby champion has witnessed a dramatic decline in his ability to generate hard contact since Jun. 11, which is very concerning for a slugger of his stature.

Unlike earlier in the campaign, Alonso is currently struggling to create considerable damage against opposing pitchers, as he owns a 37.1% hard-hit rate, a 2.9% barrel rate and a 91.2 mph average exit velocity over his last 35 batted ball events.

In comparison, the former top prospect generated an outstanding 56.2% hard-hit rate, a 19.2% barrel rate and a 96.0 mph average exit velocity over his first 73 batted ball events of the season – making him one of the top hard-contact hitters on New York’s roster during that span.

As a result of Alonso’s offensive drought, his expected results have understandably taken a major hit over the last few weeks, meaning his current hitting woes aren’t being impacted by any bad luck. In particular, his xSLG, which sits at .507 for the season, has nosedived far below the major league average and has also dropped to as low as .160 since the start of his hitting slump.

Source: BaseballSavant.com

Similar to Alonso’s xSLG, the first baseman’s xAVG has also been greatly impacted by his lack of consistent hard contact, causing it to significantly decrease below the major league average – reaching as low as .135.

Source: BaseballSavant.com

Based on this recent development, it’ll likely be extremely difficult for Alonso to break out of this offensive drought unless he starts creating plenty of hard contact in the near future. But given his history of doing exactly that over his three seasons in the majors, there’s a fairly good chance the Florida standout will be able to accomplish that feat as the schedule progresses.

Along with increasing the amount of hard contact he induces, the right-handed slugger must also reduce the 48.6% GB rate that he’s created since Jun. 11, which sat at just 35.6% through his first 121 plate appearances of 2021. Paired with his inability to generate hard contact, this dramatic increase in ground balls has resulted in a ton of weakly hit balls, proving to be a recipe for disaster.

Making matters worse, Alonso hasn’t stayed in the middle of the diamond nearly as often during this troubling stretch and has been pulling far too many balls to the left side, causing his pull percentage to increase by 3.2% (42.5% to 45.7%) over his last 53 plate appearances. In turn, the “Polar Bear’s” center percentage has dropped by 4.4% (30.1% to 25.7%) during that same span.

Looking ahead, the Florida native will need to focus on making much better contact, keeping the ball off the ground and also finding a way to direct more of his batted balls up the middle of the field. While it’ll probably require a little bit of time to make these adjustments, all three of those areas will be crucial in achieving his goal of an offensive turnaround.

While both Michael Conforto and Jeff McNeil have returned from the IL recently, which has already added a huge spark to the Mets’ lineup, receiving improved results from Alonso would undoubtedly help this team increase its offensive output even further while also removing plenty of pressure from the injury-riddled starting rotation.

The post Pete Alonso’s Hitting Woes Have Returned Once Again appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

After not being able to rely on their bullpen over the last few seasons, the New York Mets went out and acquired multiple relievers over the offseason and it’s safe to say their hard work is certainly paying off through the first two months of the 2021 campaign.

Following the additions of Trevor May and Aaron Loup, the Mets were extremely confident about featuring one of the deepest bullpens in the major leagues. Especially with high-leverage arms like Edwin Diaz, Seth Lugo, Jeurys Familia and Miguel Castro returning to the roster. But unfortunately, that depth took a major hit prior to Opening Day as Lugo underwent elbow surgery back in February.

With one of their most reliable relievers on the injured list to begin the regular season, this team desperately needed the rest of this talented group to pick up the slack and help carry the load out of the gate. Which is exactly what they’ve done up to this point.

Though they haven’t been perfect, there’s a very strong chance this club wouldn’t be leading the NL East right now if not for their bullpen’s spectacular performance.

Overcoming their previous struggles from the last couple of seasons, New York’s bullpen currently owns the highest fWAR rating (2.7), the best FIP (3.15) and FIP- (79), the fourth-best xFIP (3.63), is tied for the sixth-highest strikeout rate (27.0%), tied for the seventh-best ERA (3.56) and also features the ninth-best ERA- (94) among all 30 teams, according to FanGraphs.com.

Thanks to the amount of length the Mets have received from starters like Jacob deGrom, Marcus Stroman, David Peterson and Taijuan Walker this season, the bullpen hasn’t been overworked and has compiled the fewest number of innings in the majors. Since all four of those hurlers are fully healthy right now, they should be able to continue reducing the amount of pressure the club’s relievers face moving forward.

Adding to this positivity, Lugo has since returned from his rehab assignment, where he made four appearances in the minors, and was activated off the 60-day injured list before Monday’s series opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

While the 6′ 4″ high-leverage arm will probably receive a light workload early on, his return will make this team’s bullpen even stronger and should help them continue to excel through the final four months of the schedule.

Photo by Ed Delany, MMO

Looking back on who’s stepped up in a massive way over these first two months, Diaz has seemingly picked up exactly where he left off during the shortened 2020 campaign and has continued to dominate in the closer’s role, as he’s been a perfect 9-for-9 in save opportunities and has already converted three more saves than he did throughout last season.

While the 27-year-old isn’t striking out nearly as many batters, as his strikeout rate has declined from 45.5% in 2020 to 33.8% this season, he’s been throwing significantly more first-pitch strikes and has also reduced the amount of hard-contact allowed as well. As a result, the hard-throwing righty has improved his first-pitch strike rate by 4.4% and his hard-hit rate by 11.3%.

In total, Diaz has completed 20 1/3 innings, producing a 3.10 ERA, 83 ERA-, 2.72 xERA, 1.79 FIP, 44 FIP-, 2.97 xFIP, .211 AVG, 8.8% walk rate and a 0.8 fWAR rating, which is tied for the sixth-highest rating among all qualified relievers in the majors.

Along with Diaz’s impressive performance, May, who signed a two-year, $15.5 million contract in the offseason, has also been solid over his first two months with the Mets and is proving to be more effective than he was with the Minnesota Twins in 2020. Even though his strikeout rate has lowered by 8.3%, the 31-year-old has made up for that by improving both his ERA and FIP, inducing more ground balls and reducing the number of walks he’s allowed.

Taking his craft up to another level, the 6′ 5″ hurler has generated a 3.38 ERA, 3.33 FIP, 6.3% walk rate, 38.8% GB rate, 36.7% FB rate and a 16.7% HR/FB rate over his 18 2/3 innings of work this season.

In comparison, the former fourth-round selection recorded a 3.86 ERA, 3.62 FIP, 7.3% walk rate, 25.5% GB rate, 45.1% FB rate and a 21.7% HR/FB rate through 23 1/3 innings with the Twins last season.

At $7.8 million per season, receiving just a 0.2 fWAR rating from May isn’t ideal, obviously, but he should be able to continue building his value as the season progresses if he can maintain this current production.

As for Familia, who struggled mightily throughout last season, he hasn’t experienced any of those same woes this time around and has finally been playing up to his high expectations. Making positive strides in multiple different areas, the veteran hurler has made the biggest improvements with his command and hasn’t been hindered by any concerning amounts of walks or home runs so far.

Unlike previous seasons, the right-hander has found a way to keep balls in the yard this season, as he hasn’t surrendered a home run since Sep. 19, 2020. In addition, the 6′ 3″ reliever has also dramatically reduced his walk rate, lowering it from 15.8% in 2020 to 10.5% in 2021.

Thanks to his improved command, Familia is enjoying one of the best starts of his career and has performed to a 2.16 ERA, 58 ERA-, 2.83 xERA, 2.28 FIP (career-best), 57 FIP-, 3.31 xFIP, 25.0% strikeout rate (an increase of 5.8% from 2020), 57.1% GB rate, 20.4% FB rate and a 0.4 fWAR rating over 16 2/3 innings.

With Lugo back in the mix, the Mets definitely won’t have any shortage of quality options during high-leverage situations, which is an issue they’ve run into in the past far too often. Though dividing up playing time probably won’t be an easy task for manager Luis Rojas, nobody in the history of the sport has ever complained about having too many reliable pitchers in the bullpen and that should apply in this case too.

Considering the 31-year-old posted a 5.15 ERA, 4.74 xERA, 4.45 FIP and a 0.4 fWAR through 36 2/3 innings last season, there’s no question he’ll be aiming to return to his stellar 2019 performance. If that same hurler returns, which saw him produce a 2.70 ERA, 2.45 xERA, 2.70 FIP and a 2.3 fWAR (career-best) over 80.0 innings, the Mets shouldn’t have any issues preserving leads down the stretch.

While this team is still without key position players like Michael Conforto, Brandon Nimmo and J.D. Davis, Lugo’s return to the active roster should provide everyone with some light at the end of the tunnel of what’s been a chaotic two-month period to begin the regular season.

The post Seth Lugo Adds Another Layer to Mets’ Elite Bullpen appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

After lacking reliable depth on the bench last season, the New York Mets went out and added several proven veterans to help correct that issue this season, and so far, those acquisitions have made a significant impact through the first month and a half of the schedule.

Needing to locate a versatile backup infielder, president Sandy Alderson and his staff ultimately settled on Jonathan Villar, signing him to a one-year, $3.55 million contract. Despite coming off a disappointing performance that was split between the Miami Marlins and the Toronto Blue Jays, where he posted a career-worst 66 wRC+ score and a -0.3 fWAR rating, the Mets were hopeful the 30-year-old could bounce back with a change of scenery.

While Villar was originally expected to fill in all around the infield in 2021, his role has drastically shifted since the calendar turned to May and he’s witnessed a significant increase in playing time, as the versatile defender has needed to serve as the everyday third baseman due to multiple key injuries.

With infielders J.D. Davis (sprained left finger) and Luis Guillorme (strained oblique) both on the 10-day injured list, this team’s depth has certainly been tested early on and it’s forced manager Luis Rojas to rely on someone who he probably thought would mainly serve as a bench option this season. But luckily for the Mets, the former Marlin has been a major surprise up to this point and has excelled at his new job as a full-time player at the hot corner.

Even though expectations were set fairly low at the start of May, it hasn’t taken Villar very long to catch fire at the plate, which has resulted in four home runs, nine RBIs, a .211 ISO, a .329 wOBA, a 13.6% walk rate, a 22.7% strikeout rate, a 36.6% FB rate, a 113 wRC+ score and a respectable slashing line of .228/.333/.439/.772 over his 66 plate appearances since May 2.

Thanks to this recent offensive outburst, the Dominican native is proving he’s still capable of serving as a productive hitter at the bottom of the order, allowing him to largely improve his overall season totals. In addition, the speedy infielder is also beginning to demonstrate that last season’s performance may have been somewhat of an outlier, potentially caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and wasn’t the start of his career taking a turn for the worse.

Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Over his 104 plate appearances in 2021, Villar has produced three doubles, one triple, four home runs, 12 RBIs, a .183 ISO, a .308 wOBA, a. 306 xwOBA, a 9.6% walk rate, a 26.9% strikeout rate, a 33.3% FB rate, a 99 wRC+ score, a 1.5 BsR, a 0.4 fWAR rating and a slashing line of .226/.308/.409/.716.

In comparison, the former international free agent earned 207 plate appearances in 2020, recording five doubles, two home runs, 15 RBIs, a .059 ISO, a .266 wOBA, a .253 xwOBA, a 9.2% walk rate, a 26.1% walk rate, a 21.2% FB rate, a 66 wRC+ score, a 0.7 BsR, a -0.3 fWAR rating and a slashing line of .232/.301/.292/.593.

While Villar has struggled to hit for contact this season, resulting in his .279 BABIP, he’s been able to make an impact with his power and his impressive speed on the basepaths. Though he’s only generated a 26.2% hard-hit rate and an 85.9 mph average exit velocity, the switch-hitter is barreling up more balls and hitting them in the air much more frequently than he did throughout the shortened campaign.

Making the majority of these adjustments against fastballs, the former Blue Jay has increased his average launch angle from 9 degrees in 2020 up to 12 degrees this season, helping him improve his fly ball rate by 13.5%.

Source: BaseballSavant.com

Digging deeper, Villar owned a 6-degree average launch angle and a 23.1% FB rate against heaters during the opening month of the season. But so far in May, he’s producing a 15-degree average launch angle and a 30.8% FB rate, which is a pretty impressive improvement in such a short period of time.

As for the type of contact he’s been making, “Villi” struggled mightily to square up fastballs last season, creating just a 2.7% barrel rate against them. Putting those woes behind him this season, the adjustments he’s made to his swing has helped the veteran hitter induce much better contact, which has resulted in a 10.3% barrel rate.

Source: BaseballSavant.com

Following these mechanical adjustments, Villar has dramatically improved his overall metrics against fastballs ever since taking over the starting third base spot. As a result, he’s witnessed an increase in contact, power and also hasn’t been striking out nearly as much compared to the first month of the schedule.

In April, the former top prospect posted a .217 AVG, .180 xAVG, .348 SLG, .307 xSLG, .240 wOBA, .208 xwOBA, 43.5% strikeout rate, 32.3% chase rate and a 31.8% whiff rate over his 23 plate appearances against heaters.

But over his 42 plate appearances against them this month, he’s recorded a .222 AVG, .224 xAVG, .389 SLG, .458 xSLG, .323 wOBA, .344 xwOBA, 23.8% strikeout rate, 25.0% chase rate and a 25.7% whiff rate.

If Villar can maintain his current fly ball and barrel rates against fastballs, along with continuing to improve his plate discipline, there’s a very good chance he could sustain this type of production through the rest of the season. Considering the offensive-first infielder is only providing average defense at third base, as he owns a -1 OAA and a -2 DRS through 163 2/3 innings, staying on this current offensive pace could help him earn regular at-bats moving forward.

With Davis nearing a return to the majors, which could come as soon as this weekend, the 28-year-old is expected to regain his starting job at the hot corner when he’s activated off the IL. In turn, this move will undoubtedly eat into Villar’s playing time, but with teammate Jeff McNeil still sidelined due to a strained hamstring, the versatile infielder could slide over to second base – a position he’s much more comfortable at.

Whenever the Mets are fully healthy, Villar is expected to return to his regular role on the bench, limiting him to just pinch-hitting duties. Having said that, this encouraging stretch at the plate should provide Rojas and his staff some confidence if they need to call his name during key moments of this club’s hunt for a playoff spot.

The post Jonathan Villar Capitalizing on Increased Playing Time appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

Updated Post – May 17, 4:15 pm

The Mets announced a flurry of roster moves on Tuesday before their three-game series vs the Braves in Atlanta.

Jeff McNeil and Michael Conforto were both placed on the 10-day injured list with hamstring strains. McNeil’s injury is to the left hamstring, while Conforto’s is to the right.

To take their place on the active roster, the Mets recalled outfielder Khalil Lee and selected the contract of outfielder Johneshwy Fargas.

To make room for Fargas on the 40-man roster, the Mets shifted right-handed pitcher Seth Lugo to the 60-day injured list. Lugo is now eligible to return from the IL on May 31.

Original Post – May 17, 12:56 pm

Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News reported Monday that according to a source with knowledge of the situation, both Michael Conforto and Jeff McNeil are headed to the injured list with hamstring strains.

Conforto exited Sunday’s game in the first inning, followed by McNeil in the second inning, both with apparent hamstring injuries. They were sent for MRIs following Sunday’s game and it is expected to be announced later today that they will both be joining the Mets’ growing injured list with hamstring strains.

The Mets are getting multiple opinions on the injuries, but once the decision is official that both players will be seeing stints on the injured list, it is expected that among the roster moves made will be the Mets calling up Johneshwy Fargas, The 26-year old outfielder who was drafted in the eleventh round of the 2013 MLB draft and has been with the Triple-A Syracuse Mets this season.

Fargas is not on the 40-man roster so they will need to make move to add him. Edwin Hernández Jr. on Twitter was first with the Fargas end of the news.

Tim Healey of Newsday reports that outfielder Khalil Lee will be the other player called up by the Mets. Lee was briefly up with the Mets last week but never got into a game.

Conforto and McNeil will join Jacob deGrom, Brandon Nimmo, J.D. Davis, Albert Almora, Luis Guillorme, Dellin Betances, Jose Martinez, Carlos Carrasco, Seth Lugo, and Noah Syndergaard on the injured list.

Mets owner Steven Cohen took to twitter to talk about the Mets’ growing list of injuries. “We are banged up here. It’s going to be a tough stretch here. We will get through this. Keep the faith,” stated Cohen on Sunday night.

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