PHOENIX — One down, with another wounded but still available.
The Mets placed Juan Lagares on the disabled list before Tuesday night’s game against the Diamondbacks, but had no plans to disable Curtis Granderson.
Lagares departed the Mets’ 7-3 victory over the Diamondbacks on Monday after pulling his right hamstring running to first base. The Mets recalled outfielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis from Triple-A Las Vegas a night after finishing with Eric Young Jr. in center field, Lucas Duda in left and Andrew Brown in right. Nieuwenhuis was in Tuesday’s starting lineup as the center fielder.
Granderson sustained contusions to his left rib cage, knee and forearm upon crashing into the right-field fence in the first inning. Granderson remained in the game through five innings before departing with soreness. He will continue to be evaluated on a daily basis, but indicated he is optimistic he will avoid the DL.
“Things are feeling a lot better,” said Granderson, who was expecting to be available for potential pinch-hitting duty. “Things are looking pretty good.”
Granderson was moving around the clubhouse freer than a night earlier, when he was in visible pain putting on his socks and shoes.
“Right now it’s a good sign, and if it continues like this we should be back sooner rather than later,” Granderson said.
As for Lagares, the Mets want to play it safe given that so much of his game is predicated on using his legs. But the Mets lost their hottest hitter — Lagares is batting .314 with a homer and seven RBIs — for at least two weeks.
The fact Lagares had never previously sustained a hamstring injury was also a factor in the Mets wanting to play it safe.
“I’d be very careful with that if you’ve never had one before,” manager Terry Collins said. “I’m not sure because he’s never had one, he doesn’t know the seriousness. Was he just stiff? Was it dehydration? What was it that could have caused it and how bad it was?
“He’s the only one that can sense that, but I certainly think that due to the fact his legs are a major part of his game you have to be careful to make the right decision. We have to be careful, because if you’re not sure how to take care of this and the way he plays defense, which is an all-out effort, you’re talking 4-6 weeks as opposed to maybe two weeks.”
Outfielder Chris Young, who is recovering from strained right quadriceps, is expected to be activated from the disabled list on Friday. Until then, the Mets have Nieuwenhuis to play center.
Nieuwenhuis was batting .310 with two homers and eight RBIs at Triple-A Las Vegas after making a strong showing in spring training for the Mets. He credits changes he made to his swing over the winter for his recent success.
“Watching film at home, there was just a lot of stuff going on,” Nieuwenhuis said, referring to his swing. “I just shortened it up.”
Collins liked what he saw from Nieuwenhuis in spring training.
“It’s a shorter swing,” Collins said. “It’s more through the ball. I thought he made some great adjustments and that’s why he hit as well as he did in the spring. His bat is going through the zone much better than it did a year ago.”