Injury updates on Kodai Senga, Brooks Raley, and José Quintana, and Brett Baty, Mark Vientos continue to roll this spring

Injuries are starting to pile up on the Mets pitching staff as Kodai Senga was scratched from his start on Saturday

Michael Baron

Mar 12, 2023

The Mets lost to the Nationals 10-7 Saturday night in West Palm Beach (Box)
Brett Baty reached base four times, going 2-for-2 with two walks to raise his spring average to .458
Mark Vientos notched his third double of the spring, going 3-for-4 with two RBI on the night - he is hitting .333 so far in camp
RHP John Curtiss started for the Mets in place of Kodai Senga and pitched a scoreless inning
LHP TJ McFarland - who has become a left-handed reliever of interest - allowed two runs in two innings of work, and RHP Zach Greene - who was the club’s Rule 5 selection in December - allowed two runs in one inning of work

Injury Updates 🏥

RHP Kodai Senga - originally scheduled to start Saturday’s game - was scratched with what the team described as tendinitis in his right index finger. He is day-to-day
LHP Brooks Raley was diagnosed with a grade 1 hamstring strain. Mets GM Billy Eppler said his diagnostic scans didn’t reveal anything serious and Mets manager Buck Showalter said Raley could be available for opening day in Miami
LHP José Quintana - who was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his rib - is still in New York undergoing tests. Eppler said the Mets should have more to share by Wednesday

Mets in the World Baseball Classic 🌎

Pool D (loanDepot Park, Miami, FL)
- Nicaragua 🇳🇮 1, Puerto Rico 🇵🇷 9 (box)
  - Francisco Lindor - Team Puerto Rico 🇵🇷 - 2-for-4, RBI, 2 R
Pool C (Chase Field, Phoenix, AZ)
- Great Britain 🇬🇧 2, United States 🇺🇸 6 (box)
  - Jeff McNeil - Team USA 🇺🇸 - 0-for-4

Mets participating in the WBC:

Pete Alonso - Team USA 🇺🇸
Jonathan Arauz - Team Venezuela 🇻🇪
Edwin Díaz - Team Puerto Rico 🇵🇷
Eduardo Escobar - Team Venezuela 🇻🇪
Dominic Hamel - Team Puerto Rico 🇵🇷
Francisco Lindor - Team Puerto Rico 🇵🇷
Jeff McNeil - Team USA 🇺🇸
Humberto Mejia - Team Panama 🇵🇦
Omar Narváez - Team Venezuela 🇻🇪
Camrin Opp - Team Great Britain 🇬🇧
Adam Ottavino - Team USA 🇺🇸
Claudio Scotti - Team Italy 🇮🇹

Today’s Game 🦩

Game 1️⃣4️⃣ of 3️⃣0️⃣

Match-up: Rays vs. Mets

Where: Clover Park - Port St. Lucie, FL

Starters: RHP Luis Patino vs. RHP Carlos Carrasco

When: 1:10 PM EDT

Where to Watch: WPIX

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The injuries are starting to pile up for the Mets pitching staff… ✍🏻

Saturday could’ve gone better for the Mets on the injury front.

Before their game against the Nationals in West Palm Beach, the Mets were forced to scratch Kodai Senga with what they described as tendinitis in his right index finger.

Mets GM Billy Eppler said before the game such injuries for players adjusting from the Japanese game to the American game are not uncommon, and for what it’s worth, Mets manager Buck Showalter said if this was a regular season game, Senga might’ve been able to pitch through it.

Senga’s situation is a little bit different than someone else who might be dealing with what could be considered a nagging injury. He’s still working to adjust to the differences between the NPB and MLB, this injury quite possibly being an adjustment point for him. But the clock is ticking towards opening day and it doesn’t take an opinion from a club official to know and have observed Senga has a lot of work to do ahead of whenever his first regular season start is, which could very well be in Miami.

Not to mention the fact Senga has to build his innings and pitch count up ahead of that start, on top of everything else.

Hopefully this is in fact a small issue and he can at least get into a simulation or B game this week to get himself back on track. But that time against big league hitters is especially crucial for Senga, and that can’t be stressed enough.

Then there’s Brooks Raley who came back to Port St. Lucie on Friday after straining his hamstring. It sounds like this is a time and patience situation and not really a big deal. But hamstring injuries, even those most minor, can be unpredictable and at best, require rest, and with opening day less than three weeks away, that timing becomes crucial for Raley.

The Mets have three left-handed relievers in camp as non-roster invitees: TJ McFarland, Zach Muckenhirn, and Josh Walker. One of those could conceivably replace Raley if he isn’t ready to go on opening day, but remember, besides Raley, the Mets do not have another left-handed reliever on the 40-man roster, and there were in fact multiple opportunities for the Mets to procure a free agent left-handed reliever before camp opened.

Lastly, it would seem the situation with José Quintana has gotten a little cloudier, although Mets GM Billy Eppler declined to elaborate beyond Quintana still being iN New York for testing and awaiting some opinions from multiple physicians. He went down last week with a stress fracture in his rib, so hopefully there isn’t more than meets the eye there. That figures to keep him out at least a couple of months alone, but perhaps his situation isn’t quite that simple, which isn’t good on it’s own.

Fortunately, the Mets have quite a bit of depth in their starting rotation but as I wrote earlier this week, the Mets already had to account for approximately 10 starts worth of innings merely to allow both Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer the rest they need, and now they know they have to find at least another 10 starts worth of innings in Quintana’s absence.

So, potentially not having Raley at the start of the season could add additional stress to that formula.

And it’s only March 12.

Around the League 🚩

The Diamondbacks locked up top prospect Corbin Carroll to an eight-year contract (MLB.com)
Top Yankee prospect Jasson Dominguez hit his fourth home run of the spring on Saturday in a 6-3 split-squad loss to the Phillies
Top Cardinals prospect Jordan Walker left Saturday’s game against the Astros with a shoulder strain - he is listed as day-to-day
RHP Tyler Glasnow is still in the treatment phase of his oblique strain, and is expected to miss the first part of the season (TB Times)
Former Met Matt Harvey allowed one run over four innings for Team Italy on Sunday night against the Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic