BALTIMORE -- On the day the Mets sent one designated hitter to the injured list, they welcomed another back to their lineup. The team on Tuesday placed Starling Marte on the 10-day IL with a right knee bruise and activated Jesse Winker, who took Marte’s place on the roster.
Winker immediately reentered the lineup, assuming Marte’s usual spot there, as well.
“It’s funny how things work, right?” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “You gain one, you lose one.”
lthough Marte is dealing with the same issue that sidelined him for two months last year and resulted in his slow start to Spring Training, the Mets do not believe this latest variant of the injury is nearly as serious. Marte received a gel shot in his knee and will stay off his legs for two to four days. As long as he heals well in that time, he will restart baseball activities this weekend, with an eye toward returning when the second half of the season begins July 18 against the Reds at Citi Field.
“It’s just the wear and tear, I guess you want to call it,” Mendoza said. “The trainers are pretty confident that that’s what we’re dealing with. Even Marte, today talking to him, he’s in a pretty good spot.”
"I'm 100 percent confident that I'll be able to return and bounce back right after the All-Star break," Marte said through an interpreter. "It's the same type of injection that I got in Spring Training, and I was able to recover and feel good almost immediately, which is why I have that level of confidence that I'll be able to come back right after the break."
The Mets are nonetheless sorry to lose Marte, who had contributed three consecutive multihit games before tweaking his knee Sunday in the ninth inning of the Mets’ loss to the Yankees. Since June 5, Marte was slashing .349/.391/.460, earning himself opportunities batting leadoff and in the middle of the lineup. He had begun eating into the playing time of Mark Vientos, Ronny Mauricio and other DH candidates, and he would have presented a playing-time challenge to Winker as well.
In the short term, that’s no longer an issue. The Mets’ primary DH against right-handed pitchers in April, Winker will return to that role for at least the six games leading up to the All-Star break. He strained his right oblique muscle in early May and needed nine weeks to return, hitting two home runs over a five-game Minor League rehab stint. Before his injury, Winker was slashing .239/.321/.418 in 24 games.
“I just had to go and obviously get some swings in and get back out in the field, run around,” Winker said. “I got it back to a good spot. Just happy to be back.”
Although both Winker and Marte have served almost exclusively as DHs this season, both moonlit as outfielders and were injured in those games. Still, Mendoza said he doesn’t regret using either player in the field.
“I think it just happens, man,” Mendoza said. “It’s not the first time that Marte plays in the outfield. It’s just something that he’s been dealing with. Winker, it was just unfortunate. But we feel good with the progression, where they were at before going down. We felt good putting them in the outfield.”