Sam Coonrod Diagnosed With High-Grade Lat Strain

The Mets announced to reporters, including Tim Healey of Newsday, that reliever Sam Coonrod has a high-grade strain of his right lat. The club has yet to provide a timeline but even mild lat strains usually lead to weeks-long absences.

For Coonrod, 30, it’s a concerning and frustrating development as its two years in a row now with a similar beginning. He also dealt with a shoulder strain in March of last year while with the Phillies and didn’t return to a big league mound until August. He ended up posting a 7.82 ERA in 12 appearances down the stretch and got designated for assignment in January.

The Mets decided to take a flier and grabbed Coonrod off waivers. Though his 2022 campaign was frustrating, he was solid the year before, posting a 4.04 ERA over 42 appearances. He struck out 25.9% of batters faced in that time, walked 8.1% and got grounders at a 57.1% clip. The club was surely hoping that improved health could get the right-hander back to a performance like that and he looked to be on a good trajectory this spring. He tossed five scoreless innings, striking out seven batters while allowing just a single walk and two hits.

Unfortunately, that progress will now be put on hold for what could be a significant amount of time. The club will surely provide more updates eventually, but the MLB website features a guideline on lat strains, highlighting that a Grade 1 strain usually requires an absence of a few weeks, Grade 2 at least a month and Grade 3 even longer, perhaps requiring surgery. Once more information is revealed, there will be a clearer picture of what lies ahead, but it should be a meaningful time on the shelf either way.

The Mets weren’t relying on Coonrod to be a key piece of their bullpen, but they have tried to save a few spots for optionable arms. With Edwin Díaz, Adam Ottavino, David Robertson, Brooks Raley and Drew Smith likely having five jobs spoken for, there was potentially three spots available to be used by various relievers on a rotation basis. Since Coonrod has one option year remaining, he was going to be in that mix alongside guys like John Curtiss, Elieser Hernández, Jeff Brigham and Stephen Ridings. As long as Coonrod is out, it could open up more time for those guys or a non-roster invitee like T.J. McFarland, Tommy Hunter or Jimmy Yacabonis.