PORT ST. LUCIE — The plan for the Mets to use a six-man rotation is becoming more and more challenging each week. Left-hander Sean Manaea was diagnosed with a right oblique strain Sunday, leaving him sidelined until late April or early May.
There was no grade given, but manager Carlos Mendoza said it appears to be somewhat mild given that there was no injury to the tendon or the rib cage, and it’s on his non-dominant, non-throwing side.
It’s the second injury to a starter, with Frankie Montas going down early in camp with a lat strain.
“You hate to see it, especially before we get to March,” Mendoza said Monday at Clover Park. “Two of your guys are going down, but we’ve been talking about our depth, and here we are getting tested. The way I see it, guys will get opportunities. We still feel really good with what we have internally. So yeah, with Manaea, I’m not overly concerned.”
The Mets had no plan to replace Montas with a free agent pitcher and while an injury to Manaea could change that, it’s unlikely. Right-handers Paul Blackburn and Griffin Canning were already slotted in to fill out the rotation, be that spots Nos. 4, 5 or 6, and the Mets also have right-handers Tylor Megill and Brandon Hagenman on the 40-man roster, both of whom have minor league options, as does left-hander Brandon Waddell, who spent the last two seasons playing in the Korean Baseball League.
The Mets are not considering moving long relievers Max Kranick or Jose Butto to starting roles.
“Losing two guys out of a gate, it’s not a good thing, but you know, Hagenman is here for a reason, Waddell is here for a reason, and then you’ve got the kids,” Mendoza said. “So, like I said, we still feel good with what we have in camp.”
The “kids” include Triple-A arms Blade Tidwell, Dom Hamel and top overall prospect Brandon Sproat. The Mets would like to see them develop more in Triple-A before bringing them up to the big leagues.
Manaea’s right side was sore coming into camp, but there were no sharp pains or anything concerning. Initially, he attributed it to general soreness after throwing, but it never improved. It never got worse either, but after throwing to hitters last week and still experiencing the muscle soreness, he underwent imaging.
“From my end, it’s very, very disappointing,” Manaea said. “I hate being injured, not out there pitching and doing my job, that sucks. I’m going to do everything I can to get there as healthy and as quick as possible… I thought I was doing everything I could this offseason to train, and it just kind of popped up. That being said, I’d rather miss a couple weeks now, at the beginning season instead of doing something to make it worse, and then potentially miss a significant amount of time.”
Manaea will be shut down from throwing for two weeks or longer if the symptoms don’t subside. Since he was already built up to the point of being able to throw to hitters, he may not need another full spring training period to get to season form like Montas will.
“The less time on the front end that you would miss, the less amount of time it’s going to take to build back up,” he said. “It’s kind of how I respond to everything. And you know, if I’m feeling good, then maybe take a [shorter] amount of time.”
Infielder Nick Madrigal will also miss a significant amount of time with a fractured shoulder. Madrigal dislocated his left, non-throwing shoulder while charging a ground ball in a split-squad Grapefruit League game Sunday, with further imaging revealing a fracture.
This could pressure the Mets to carry Luisangel Acuña as a utility infielder to start the season, with the priority being someone who can spell Francisco Lindor at shortstop late in games. However, the Mets will give Donnie Walton more time at shortstop in upcoming Grapefruit League games, and they could carry Brett Baty as well and have Jeff McNeil play shortstop in those same scenarios.
“I’ll have to talk to [Jeff] about that,” Mendoza said. “We haven’t gotten to that point yet, but he’s always up for whatever.”