NEW YORK -- Less than a week after rupturing his left Achilles, right-hander Griffin Canning walked into the Mets’ clubhouse on crutches, but needed to sit down when he was approached by the media prior to Tuesday’s postponed game against the Brewers at Citi Field.
Canning, who was in good spirits, had surgery on Friday and is expected to miss the rest of the season. He said he has not been in a lot of pain following the procedure.
“I’m feeling a little bit better every day,” Canning said. “The doctor said the surgery went really well. I saw him [Monday] and got splint off. There wasn’t that much swelling or bruising.”
The Achilles injury occurred on Thursday in the top of the third inning against the Braves. With one out and Eli White on second, Nick Allen hit a routine ground ball to shortstop Francisco Lindor, who was able to throw out Allen at first base. As the play unfolded, Canning stepped off the mound and fell to the ground in serious pain. He had to be helped off the field.
“I felt like I got kicked in the back of the leg,” Canning said. “Once I couldn’t put my foot on it and talked with [head athletic trainer Joseph Golia] when he came out there, it wasn’t good [to put foot on the ground]. It’s going to be tough. I’ll try to take it one day at a time.”
Before the injury, Canning was one of the Mets’ best starting pitchers, going 7-3 with a 3.77 ERA.
“It sucks. Obviously, I want to be out there with the guys, and I just love baseball,” Canning said. “That’s probably the worst part -- is that I don’t get to play for a while. I’ve been doing some research and reading up on all the basketball players that have had this. I’ll figure out what to do.”
Canning is good friends with former Major Leaguer Trayce Thompson and hopes to talk to Thompson’s brother, NBA star Klay Thompson, who had had a similar problem in 2020 when he was with the Golden State Warriors.
“It’s in the early stages at this point. If I have some questions, I will talk to Klay for sure,” Canning said.