Mets lose yet another member of starting rotation with Griffin Canning's injury vs. Atlanta
Griffin Canning of the Mets is checked on after an injury during the third inning against Atlanta at Citi Field on Thursday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Losing games was painful enough for the Mets during a June swoon that served as a midseason test to this team’s resolve.
But losing more members of their starting rotation? That’s now a full-blown epidemic in Flushing, and Griffin Canning became the latest casualty Thursday night when he collapsed running off the mound, stricken down by what suspiciously looked like a ruptured Achilles tendon in the third inning.
After the Mets soldiered on for the 4-0 victory, riding four relievers — including another fresh recall, Austin Warren, who got the W for the series split with Atlanta — manager Carlos Mendoza pretty much confirmed the worst about Canning. Indeed it was the Achilles, but the team was still waiting on the MRI results for the exact diagnosis.
When it happened, you didn’t need an M.D. to comprehend the severity of Canning’s condition. As he pushed off the side of the mound, headed to back up a play at third, Canning’s left leg crumbled, sending him sprawling to the grass in obvious agony. Many of his teammates in the dugout, including Mendoza, didn’t even see him tumble. They were shocked to see Canning suddenly on the ground.
“It just came out of nowhere,” said Sean Manaea, who was perched at the dugout rail. “I literally looked down for two seconds and then everyone started freaking out. I feel for him. He’s been having a great year, with a new team, in a new city, and to have his season end like that is very, very unfortunate.”
Canning stayed stretched out on the turf, that same leg raised, as the Mets raced over to check on him. Once they got Canning upright, he was unable to put any weight on his left foot, and it was pitching coach Jeremy Hefner who held his right shoulder as they helped him off the field.
“Horrible,” Mendoza said. “It sucks. You hate to see it.”
For the Mets, however, this was not an entirely new experience. Canning will now be their sixth starter to land on the IL since spring training, but none of the others had the tragic finality of a successful half-season crashing so abruptly. Canning, coming off a 5.19 ERA with the Angels last season, was 7-3 in 15 starts and lowered his ERA to 3.77 after 2 2⁄3 scoreless innings Thursday night. The curtain-closer went only 36 pitches, the final one a slider that Atlanta’s Nick Allen grounded to short, setting in motion Canning’s stunning demise before a sellout crowd of 42,646.
In the past two weeks alone, the Mets have now lost three starters while battling through the worst stretch (1-10) of their season. Kodai Senga (hamstring) and Tylor Megill (shoulder strain) both went down within days of each other before Canning’s leg buckled without warning.
Yet by the end of Thursday night, they were back atop the NL East (by a half-game over the Phillies) for the first time since Canning last took the mound Saturday at Citizens Bank Park.
“These guys are up for the challenge,” Mendoza said. “It happens every year. You’re going to face adversity. Guys will step up. We just got to stick together.”
To date, the Mets have used eight starters through the first 81 games — the season’s true halfway point — after using a total of 11 a year ago. Despite relying on the Triple-A carousel for relievers almost daily, the Mets’ rotation has only reached down to Syracuse for one prospect: Blade Tidwell, who is 0-1 with a 9.82 ERA in two emergency starts.
This week began so promisingly, too. But on the same day that Frankie Montas made his 2025 debut after being sidelined since February with a lat-muscle strain, pitching five scoreless victory with five strikeouts, the Mets also revealed that Manaea’s imminent return had been delayed by the discovery of “loose bodies” causing discomfort in his left elbow.
Manaea’s setback isn’t expected to be major, and he’s still expected to rejoin the rotation early next month. But with a 7-mm chunk floating around the joint, the Mets can only hope the cortisone shot keeps him functioning for as long as possible. The Mets gave Manaea their biggest offseason contract for a pitcher (three years, $75 million) but he’s yet to take the mound in a real game after making 32 starts (3.47 ERA) last season.
Seeing all these pitching dominoes fall is the sort of contingency that president of baseball operations David Stearns has in mind when he prioritizes depth over big dollars in building a rotation. But there’s no way he could have anticipated quite so many over such a short period of time. Still, the Mets’ starters had once again made Stearns look like a genius, with a 3.13 ERA that stands as the best in the majors.
Canning, another of Stearns’ crafty offseason finds, was pitching like one of his most successful projects, right there with converting Clay Holmes — the former Yankees closer — into a front-line starter. Stearns signed him to a $4.25 million contract in late December, and he quickly excelled with the Mets, bolstering a rotation that was the most surprising in baseball.
“That’s a testament to everyone here, and the organization from the top down,” Manaea said. “Everyone’s got belief in each other. It’s kind of the next-man-up mentality and everybody that’s pitched for this team has been exceptional. I don’t see that stopping anytime soon. It’s part of the game, so we have to pick ourselves up and keep going.”
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
