Mets' Luis Guillorme injures calf, goes on IL
The Mets' Brandon Nimmo, top, and Francisco Lindor, left, check on Luis Guillorme after he was injured while fielding a single by the Red Sox's Rafael Devers during the sixth inning in the continuation of a suspended baseball game Saturday in Boston. Credit: AP/Michael Dwyer
BOSTON — Luis Guillorme’s tough season took an even tougher turn Saturday afternoon.
He suffered a right calf strain when he tried to field a ground ball in a 5-4 win over the Red Sox. The Mets put him on the injured list before the second game of their doubleheader hours later.
Swapping one utilityman for another, the Mets called up Danny Mendick from Triple-A Syracuse to replace Guillorme.
Between games, Guillorme wore a walking boot and used crutches.
“I’m not happy about it,” he said. “It is what it is, but I’m not happy about it.”
Adding to Guillorme’s disappointment: Around this time last year, he was sidelined by a left groin injury. And in the summer before that, also about now, he dealt with a left hamstring strain.
Guillorme said this is the first time he has hurt a calf. It happened in the bottom of the sixth inning when Rafael Devers shot a grounder his way. He bobbled it, and when he tried to recover by picking it up off the outfield grass, he felt his calf go.
Guillorme stayed on the ground for a minute before limping off the field.
“I felt a little grab at my calf when I went to get the ball. That’s really all I know right now,” he said. “Right now it just feels like it’s tight, really.”
He is due for an MRI, which will tell the Mets about the severity of the strain, upon returning to New York. Manager Buck Showalter said it was “pretty obvious” shortly after Guillorme exited the game that he would have to go on the IL.
Guillorme’s .651 OPS is his lowest since 2018, his first season in the majors. He has more strikeouts (28) than hits (24) and was demoted to the minors for several weeks in May and June.
Mendick, 29, got into four games during his previous major-league stay with the Mets. He plays the infield and outfield and had a .266/.354/.403 slash line with Syracuse.
Extra bases
Tommy Pham (right groin tightness) was out of the lineup again. He has started four games in 13 days since initially getting hurt . . . The Mets called up lefthanded reliever Josh Walker as the 27th man for the second game of their doubleheader.
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.
