Mets outfielder Jose Siri has a broken tibia
Mets outfielder Jose Siri is helped out of the dugout after an injury at-bat during the second inning of a game against the Athletics Saturday in West Sacramento, Calif. Credit: AP/Sara Nevis
MINNEAPOLIS — Jose Siri will be out indefinitely after the Mets learned his shin bruise actually is a broken leg, pausing his debut season in Queens and ruining the team’s plans for a centerfield timeshare.
He fractured his left tibia when he fouled a pitch into his leg, just below the knee, Saturday against the Athletics. Forty-eight hours later, when he still was in significant pain and could not walk without crutches, the Mets opted to send him for follow-up tests.
“With how much pain he was going through and watching him walk — he could barely — we knew,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “That’s why we sent him for an MRI and CT scan today and that’s what it showed.”
Siri will be out for “a while,” Mendoza said, adding that “we gotta get more information” before they know how long.
Siri said he was surprised to learn the severity of his injury.
“I didn’t think it was that serious,” he said through an interpreter. “[The Mets will] re-evaluate probably within the next week to see how it is. Everybody is different. I’m a quick healer, so hopefully something good will come out of it.
“I don’t think surgery is going to be needed, just from the conversations that we had. It seems like this is something that’s going to heal on its own.”
Mendoza didn’t commit to calling up anybody in particular to fill Siri’s roster spot, but Jose Azocar — who spent spring training with the club but was cut just before Opening Day — is an option. He has been with Triple-A Syracuse. The Mets don’t have any healthy 40-man roster position players in the minors.
Tyrone Taylor, who had been splitting time with Siri, figures to get significant playing time. The Mets also can shift Brandon Nimmo over from leftfield, then plug in Jesse Winker or Starling Marte in his place. And Mendoza told Luisangel Acuna, who played 31 games in center in the minors last year, to be ready.
“That sucks for Siri,” Taylor said. “I know he just wants to be out there for the guys. I wish him a speedy recovery. It sucks.”
Mendoza said: “We feel good with our outfield depth. Unfortunate for Siri. But we like what we got.”
The Mets acquired Siri, an elite defender who historically hasn’t hit much, from the Rays in November. He went 1-for-20 with five runs scored in 10 games.
Mets go slow with Manaea
Sean Manaea’s latest MRI on Monday showed “improvement” in his strained right oblique, Mendoza said, so he played light catch from 60 feet.
But the Mets will limit Manaea to about that distance and intensity for the next 10 days, Mendoza added. That is a notably slower ramp-up pace than Manaea’s previous attempt, which resulted in a setback.
Realistically, that means Manaea is looking at a new best-case scenario of an early June return.
“He started feeling it again . . . when he started putting something on it,” Mendoza said of Manaea’s continued oblique discomfort late last month. “We want to make sure that doesn’t happen again. The fact that the MRI came back to a point where he was cleared to start his throwing [is positive], but again, it’s light for now.”
The rehabbers
Among the latest machinations for other injured Mets, via Mendoza:
- Francisco Alvarez (left hand surgery) will join Double-A Binghamton, not Triple-A Syracuse, on Tuesday because of weather.
- Jeff McNeil (right oblique strain) will continue with Low-A St. Lucie on Tuesday and Thursday before moving up, probably to Syracuse.
- Ronny Mauricio (recovery from a December 2023 torn ACL) is DHing in extended spring training games with low-level minor-leaguers.
“The fact that he’s now going to get in game action is a good sign,” Mendoza said.
When will he play defense?
“We’ll see,” Mendoza said.
- Paul Blackburn (right knee inflammation) will throw a two-inning live batting practice Tuesday, then start a rehab assignment for his next outing. The Mets want to build him up to 70-75 pitches.
Extra bases
Pete Alonso said he has not spoken with manager Mark DeRosa about playing again for Team USA in the WBC next March, but he wants to suit up. His possible competition for playing time/roster spots among American first basemen figures to include Bryce Harper and Matt Olson, among others . . . Jesse Winker, who deemed himself recovered enough from a stomach flu that cost him all but a pinch-hit appearance over the weekend against the A’s, returned to the lineup against the Twins . . . Former Mets and current Twins outfielder Harrison Bader socialized with former teammates on the field in the afternoon. In the 48-but-feels-like-32-degree weather, Bader stuck to wearing a crop top, his preferred pregame outfit.
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.
