The Mets' reinforcements are coming. After battling without a handful of their regulars for a significant stretch this season, the Mets are hopeful that they’ll be able to get some big pieces back in action this week.
Jesse Winker is first on the list. The lefty slugger has been sidelined since May 4 with an oblique injury, but he played back-to-back games down in Syracuse this past weekend and could rejoin the team for the three-game set in Baltimore.
Winker will be evaluated before anything is confirmed, but he is coming off a strong showing in his potential final rehab appearance. He reached base three times and launched a two-run homer Sunday in Triple-A.
Getting him back in the mix would be a huge boost for this offense, especially as Starling Marte deals with a knee issue that flared up late in Sunday’s Subway Series finale.
Later in the week, Kodai Senga and Sean Manaea could return. Senga was a bit rusty during his rehab appearance Saturday in Double-A, but he said that he felt fine afterwards and, as long as everything comes back well the rest of the week, could rejoin the rotation in Kanas City.
The same goes for Manaea, who is still looking to make his season debut. The lefty has been dealing with elbow and oblique issues since spring training, but he is expected to make one final rehab appearance Tuesday in Syracuse, before potentially rejoining the team for the first-half finale.
He has allowed 12 runs (10 earned) while striking out 18 over 15 rehab innings.
"Getting them back is huge," Carlos Mendoza said. "It’s exciting."
"It’s almost like a trade deadline acquisition," Francisco Lindor added. “Those are some really good guys we definitely need and miss. That being said, the guys here have done a fantastic job stepping in while they were out.
"The way they’ve maneuvered through lineups, the way they have stuck together, it’s been really good to see. It’s adversity — whenever somebody goes down, someone else has to step up and get the job done, and that’s what the guys have done."
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