Mets' Francisco Lindor gets injection, takes BP; Kodai Senga set for rehab start Saturday
Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor in the dugout during the fifth inning of a game against the Phillies at Citi Field on Thursday. Credit: Noah K. Murray
Francisco Lindor took batting practice Friday — for the first time all week — about 24 hours after receiving a facet injection in his spine.
The shot was meant to relieve the back pain that has kept Lindor sidelined for the past five games or, as he described it, “to numb it down, to stop swelling, to put me in a place where I can tolerate the pain.”
It worked and he felt better, he said, if not in an absolute way. The Mets still consider him day-to-day. They decided on the injection after several days of minimal progress, manager Carlos Mendoza said.
“The trainers keep asking me, how much better?” Lindor said after the Mets’ 12-2 loss to the Phillies. “It’s hard for me to say [specifically]. It’s definitely better. That’s all I can tell them. I can move around a little bit more than I did a couple of days ago. I can tie my shoelaces somewhat OK.”
As he bounced off the field after pregame batting practice, he looked more like his regular happy self than in previous days.
“I wasn’t as timid,” he said. “I wasn’t babying it as much as I thought I was going to. It’s one of those where you take one swing, OK. You take two more swings and you find a little bit of comfort. I’m moving forward.”
Mendoza said: “When he can go, he’s going to let us know . . . We trust him. If he says I’m good to go whenever, he’ll be in the lineup playing shortstop and leading off.”
Senga update
Kodai Senga (left calf strain) will pitch for Triple-A Syracuse on Saturday. Mendoza said he will max out at two innings or 35 pitches.
That lines Senga up to return as soon as Friday, when the Mets open their final series of the regular season in Milwaukee. The most likely role for Senga — whatever day he pitches — is starter, even if it necessarily will be a short outing (likely with another starter pitching behind him to cover most of the rest of the game).
“Before we put him in any major-league competition, we’re going to make sure that we have confidence that he’s ready to go,” president of baseball operations David Stearns said, “and frankly, most importantly, that he has confidence that he’s ready to go.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
