Mets outfielder Michael Conforto could come off the disabled list as early as Thursday, manager Mickey Callaway announced (via Tim Healey of Newsday). Conforto, who’s working back from the left shoulder surgery he underwent last September, is already set to rejoin the Mets in New York, Healey was among those to report Sunday. It seems he’ll avoid a rehab assignment, then, and if last year’s breakout carries over, Conforto will once again pair with Yoenis Cespedes to serve as one of the Mets’ two best hitters this season. Plus, he’ll further deepen a Mets outfield that also includes Cespedes, Jay Bruce, Brandon Nimmo and Juan Lagares.
Meanwhile, Mets reliever Anthony Swarzak will undergo an MRI on his sore left oblique on Monday, per Tim Britton of The Athletic. Swarzak, who inked a two-year, $14MM deal with the Mets in free agency, suffered the injury Saturday.
More injury updates from around the game…
- Astros manager A.J. Hinch told Brian McTaggart of MLB.com and other reporters Sunday that he expects first baseman Yuli Gurriel to make his 2018 debut on Tuesday. Gurriel has been recovering from surgery on his left hand since late February, and because he’s not on the DL, he has been able to serve his season-opening suspension at the same time. Major League Baseball gave Gurriel a five-game ban as a result of an insensitive gesture he directed at then-Dodger Yu Darvish during the World Series last year.
- White Sox outfield prospect Eloy Jimenez strained his left pectoral muscle and will lay off baseball activities for a week, the team announced Saturday. Jimenez, whom MLB.com ranks as the game’s fourth-best prospect, previously missed two weeks in spring training on account of knee tendinitis. Although the 21-year-old Jimenez hasn’t even played above the Double-A level yet, there’s optimism he’ll debut in Chicago sometime this season. He’ll begin the year in Double-A after he works his way back in game shape via extended spring training action, per the Sox.
- Mariners corner outfielder Ben Gamel is recovering nicely from the strained right oblique he suffered March 2, manager Scott Servais informed Greg Johns of MLB.com and other reporters Sunday. Gamel is on track to be in Triple-A Tacoma’s lineup when its season begins on Thursday. Once he completes his rehab in the minors, he’ll be part of a Mariners outfield mix that also includes future Hall of Famer Ichiro Suzuki, who has started all three of their games in left in place of Gamel. Ichiro’s playing time figures to decrease upon Gamel’s return, though Servais didn’t want to discuss that Sunday, per Johns.
It will be interesting to see how the Mets handle their position players when fully healthy. They have some pretty good depth.
April fools joke, right?
No. Not everybody is an All-star and the stars or scrubs mentality that exists in the comments section is irritating. This team has a lot of good role players. Cespedes is the big bat, and potentially Conforto can be as well. Agon is a former All-Star and can still be valuable in limited action. Flores can rake against lefties, Reyes is a versatile bench bat, Bruce is a good left handed power bat, same with Frazier. A good contact guy in Cabrera. Lagares and Rosario are good defensive players at premium positions, Nimmo is a athletic young player who has a lot of potential, and the catching tandem is average offensively and defensively. It gives Callaway the ability to play matchups, use players situationally, and the capability to absorb a couple injuries down the road. Perhaps another big bat is needed to be a top tier team, but no, it’s not a joke when I say they have a lot of position player depth.
Same with Frazier from the right side*
As a Cardinals fan and finishing a series with the Mets…they are a team to be reckoned with…if their pitching stays healthy as well as position players they could be scary…their bullpen looks good and of course the cardinals drew a bad card facing the one two punch of Noah S and Degrom….Don’t take the Mets lightly NL teams…tip of the cap to the Mets they looked good
The mets definitely have one of the better benches in the league. Nimmo, Reyes, Flores, and Lagares is a pretty solid group of reserves,
It’s been four games,turn it down a couple notches…
I fully agree with your evaluation and point out that Nimo makes Lagares trade bait.
Well, conforto will be one of the best left handed outfield hitters in the league….then then ces., then theres brucy…