Drew Gilbert came to the Mets as a heralded prospect in the summer of 2023. All of the hope of a big season had long since disappeared, with the biggest gut-punch coming when the club decided to trade two of the game’s greatest aces, Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer.
Gilbert was the new hope, the key part of the return for Verlander from the Houston Astros, along with slugger Ryan Clifford, and Luisangel Acuña, who came from the Scherzer trade. A year ago, with the Mets not expected to contend, this trio was part of a group of prospects who took center stage in Port St. Lucie.
Now, Gilbert’s hope is a day-to-day thing. A hamstring injury wiped out much of the 2024 season for the 24-year-old outfielder and it has lingered into spring. Gilbert was sent to minor league camp last week without appearing in a Grapefruit League game. It’s not ideal for a player that many thought would compete for a spot on the Opening Day roster this year, but the Mets are being extra cautious with his hamstring.
“Honestly, we haven’t really put a timeline on it or anything, it’s just more of a day-to-day thing. That doesn’t mean it’s, you know, two months or two weeks or two days. It’s just like having a day-to-day thing,” Gilbert recently told the Daily News. “I know that sounds kind of cliche to say, but I think we’ve kind of realized the best way to do it right now is just kind of stack days.”
Gilbert has been participating in baseball activities all spring and going through regular workouts, but his workload has not been exceedingly heavy.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to have good days stacked on top of each other,” Gilbert said. “It’s been 10 long months, to say the least.”
The injury occurred last April when the first-round pick out of the University of Tennessee was with Triple-A Syracuse. He returned in July and was reassigned to Syracuse after playing six rehab games in A-ball, but the results weren’t there immediately. Gilbert hit just .215 with a .706 OPS. Gilbert made up for some lost time in the Arizona Fall League, but wasn’t able to fully showcase what he could do.
One of the “Mini Mets,” Gilbert is listed at only 5-foot-8 but hits as though his stature is taller, similar to Acuña and Jett Williams. However, the hamstring limited how he was able to use his legs, diminishing some of his power and limiting him from taking extra bases. He can feel the hamstring when he gets up to top speed running the bases or running in the outfield.
But there is a lesson in this for a young player.
“I probably realized the last time I came back, it’s hard to prove yourself when you’re not fully healthy,” Gilbert said. “I think coming back and not being able to play the whole year, or playing the last couple months not fully healthy, it’s tough, right? Especially with this particular injury. I don’t want to go into a new season still banged up, so I think just trying to get back to 100% is the goal. Even if I want to be out there as bad as I want to be out there, I’d rather be able to showcase my abilities at my maximum capacity.”
The next step in Gilbert’s career is a big-league call-up. He knows he’ll have to push through nagging aches and pains at some point in his career, but the difference is knowing when an injury is more than just something nagging, and knowing when it’s something more. Right now, it’s more, so Gilbert will continue to work toward full health again and learn from this process with the hopes of being healthy enough to show that he’s nearly ready for the Major Leagues.
“It’s frustrating, right? I mean, I said it wasn’t, but, yeah, it’s not fun,” Gilbert said. “But I think you’re always just trying to solve problems. I know it’s not the first time I’m going to have to play through an injury in my career. I don’t want to say you should get used to it because you never get used to playing hurt, but I think there are probably some good lessons I could take from it…
“Do I know what those are? No, not all of them, but I think I’m kind of learning to be thankful for this in the long run.”
GRAPEFRUIT LEAGUE RESULTS
The Mets lost to the Houston Astros 7-4 in West Palm Beach. All four runs came off the bat of Donovan Walton, a contender for the Opening Day utility infield spot, who hit a grand slam off right-hander Tayler Scott in the seventh inning. Two of the three players he drove in are also in contention for that spot, Brett Baty and Luisangel Acuña.
Right-hander Tylor Megill tossed four scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk, striking out five. A depth starter hoping to break camp with the big league team, Megill has a 1.35 ERA over 6 2/3 innings.
Right-hander Max Kranick improved to eight scoreless innings this spring.