PHOENIX — What outfield?
Only hours after manager Terry Collins revealed intent to soon meet with his four main outfielders to discuss plans for playing time, the Mets were left searching for healthy bodies.
Curtis Granderson and Juan Lagares left the Mets’ 7-3 victory over the Diamondbacks on Monday with injuries, clouding the outfield picture only days before Chris Young is scheduled to return from the disabled list.
Lagares departed the game with a “pulled” right hamstring, according to the Mets, and appears headed to the disabled list, but the team will wait until Tuesday before deciding.
Granderson sustained contusions to the left rib cage, forearm and knee after colliding with the right-field fence in the first inning and underwent X-rays, which were negative. He will be evaluated on a daily basis.
“The good thing is everything is negative, the bad thing is just a little sore right now,” Granderson said after struggling to put on his socks and shoes in the clubhouse. “We’ll see how I feel [Tuesday].”
Granderson suffered his injuries attempting to catch Miguel Montero’s drive to right, which went for a double, in the first inning. Granderson hit the fence hard, but remained in the game until the bottom of the sixth.
In the top of the seventh, Lagares reached on a fielder’s choice, but grabbed at the hamstring after reaching first base.
“I never felt that before,” Lagares said. “It just felt like it pulled a little and I wanted to make sure and we’ll see how I feel [Tuesday].”
The game concluded with Lucas Duda in left field, Eric Young Jr. in center and Andrew Brown in right. It’s a stark contrast to the options Collins was anticipating beginning Friday, when Young could be activated from the DL.
In the meantime, the Mets will have a player on standby — probably Kirk Nieuwenhuis — in the likely event Lagares is placed on the DL.
If Granderson also needs a DL stint, the team could consider 40-year-old Bobby Abreu, who signed a minor-league deal earlier this month.
Lagares is hitting .314 with a .345 on-base percentage and .816 OPS. He has been the bright spot to a lineup that has underachieved with Granderson (.170 batting average), Travis d’Arnaud (.162) and David Wright (.231) among the big disappointments.
“It’s really tough,” Collins said. “[Lagares] has played absolutely great, he’s swung the bat very well. He’s earned that right to be out there every day. To have this happen is a tough break for him and tough break for us.”
Duda finished 4-for-5 on Monday to lead the Mets’ 13-hit attack and Zack Wheeler (1-2) allowed two earned runs over 6 ¹/₃ innings for the victory.
Duda’s third hit of the night, an RBI single in the fifth, gave the Mets a 5-2 lead. Granderson’s RBI single moments earlier gave the Mets their fourth run.
Daniel Murphy’s single and Wright’s walk started the rally. Granderson then poked a roller to left field against the shift for his fourth RBI of the season.
Granderson said he finally left the game because of his sore rib cage and concerns he could cause long-term damage.
“If they needed me to stay in I probably could have, but it definitely would have been rough,” Granderson said.
Wright’s RBI ground out in the third gave the Mets a run after Murphy’s double put runners on second and third. Young began the rally with an infield single and took second on shortstop Chris Owings’ errant throw to first. Duda’s RBI single later in the inning gave the Mets a 3-1 lead.
The Mets got their first run on Ruben Tejada’s RBI ground out after Lagares’ double to deep right center in the second put runners on second and third.