QUEENS, NY — The Mets are losing another big name to the injured list because of a calf injury, with Francisco Lindor hitting the shelf for a 10-day stint after an MRI on Thursday showed a strained calf that will keep him down for “quite a while,” manager Carlos Mendoza confirmed.
“We have multiple people looking at the imaging and the MRI,” Mendoza said. “We do know that there is the injury there, and he’s going to be down for quite a bit here.”
He also added that they are “not dealing with the same thing here,” as Juan Soto, who returned from a strained calf on Wednesday after a 15-game absence.
More tests are needed before hammering down a more concrete timetable. The only thing Lindor could offer was that he was “100%” going to return this season and that he hopes to be back before the All-Star break.
“I don’t wanna hear that,” Lindor said when asked about putting a timeframe on a potential return. “They don’t really wanna do the timetable, and if they did, I would probably run [away]. Let’s just stay off that. I’m a person who lives day by day, and I hate living in the future.”
Initial steps in his rehab will feature “not moving much” and “probably a lot of icing.”
Lindor suffered the injury while rounding third base on Francisco Alvarez’s RBI double in the fourth inning of Wednesday night’s win over the Minnesota Twins. The star shortstop began grimacing on his way home, and after gingerly sliding in safely, went down the tunnel to the clubhouse and did not return.
“It’s one of those where you start running, and you know that your body’s not 100%… once I stepped on third base, I felt something, and once I passed third base, I felt something,” he said. “After that, I knew I got something in my lower leg.”
The injury came on the very same day Soto got back. Consider this a reminder that the baseball gods do not want the Mets feeling all that good about themselves.
Lindor finally appeared to be emerging from a heinous early-season slump. He hit a three-run home run on Tuesday night and was 2-for-2 with an RBI single on Wednesday before leaving the game. He had just one home run and one RBI in his first 22 games.
“This kills me not being on the field, but I trust the trainers, and I know they have good care here,” Lindor said. “I’ll be back. Hopefully sooner rather than later.”
The 32-year-old has been dealing with an onslaught of injury issues over the last seven months. He had offseason elbow surgery, then broke his hamate bone early in spring training, which also required surgery, but he was able to get back before Opening Day.
“We’re athletes. We depend on our bodies. Stuff like this happens,” Lindor said. “It’s part of the game. It comes with the territory, and you gotta toughen up and find a way to get healthy and be on the field.”
In the interim, Ronny Mauricio was called up from Triple-A Syracuse and gets the start at shortstop on Thursday night. It allows Bo Bichette, a former shortstop, to stay at third base. He will serve as a backup at the position, though.
Mauricio, who is coming off a three-home-run game on Tuesday night in the minors, had a brief stint with the big club earlier this month, which included a walk-off single on April 7 against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Up until Wednesday night, it was the last time the Mets won a game.
“I’m looking forward to seeing him at shortstop and helping us win games,” Lindor said of Mauricio. “He’s a good player. He’s gonna help us win. He’s a great competitor, brings good energy, and he’s gonna play well.”
For more on Francisco Lindor, visit AMNY.com
