Francisco Lindor placed on IL as Mets call up Ronny Mauricio
The dark cloud that’s hovered over Citi Field all year stayed put Thursday, as Francisco Lindor hit the IL with no telling when the Mets might get him back.
After losing Juan Soto for 15 games — and suffering 12 straight losses — to a right calf strain earlier this month, the Mets are looking at a potentially much longer stretch without their shortstop with a strained left calf.
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Lindor and Carlos Mendoza declined Thursday to estimate a possible timeline for his return, but neither was optimistic about a speedy recovery a day after he suffered the injury scoring from first on a double in the fourth inning of their win Wednesday, which ended a 12-game skid.
“There’s definitely some concern,” Lindor said before their game against the Twins at Citi Field.
“I don’t know how long [the IL stint will be].”
Mendoza added images of the injury were still being evaluated and Lindor would be “down quite a bit.”
Asked if he expected to be back at some point this season, Lindor said, “One hundred percent.”
When pressed if he believed he’d return in the first half of the season, Lindor said, “We’ll see.”
Lindor, who was removed from the game, said he felt the injury immediately after he stepped on third base.
“I knew I got it,’’ Lindor said of the injury, which is similar to the right calf injury he suffered while preparing for spring training with Cleveland in 2019. “I knew something happened. I was hoping it wasn’t that bad.”
He managed to beat the throw to the plate, but was in pain, although he said being able to walk to the dugout was a positive sign.
There haven’t been many of those in Queens this season, as they’ve already seen significant injuries to their two highest-paid players and couldn’t get through one day without bad news.
With Lindor on the IL, Ronny Mauricio was recalled from Triple-A Syracuse and is poised to play regularly at shortstop, according to Mendoza.
“He’s gonna get an opportunity here to play,’’ the manager said. “The tools are right there. We’ve seen it when he gets everyday at-bats, what he’s capable of doing. We need him to step up.”
Mendoza also said the switch-hitting Mauricio would get some chances against lefty pitching, despite a career .370 OPS as a right-handed hitter.
Bo Bichette , off to a slow start since moving from short to third base after signing with the Mets in the offseason, will serve as the backup shortstop and remain the starting third baseman.
Lindor expressed faith in the struggling Mets, adding he believed Mauricio would play well in his absence.
After an atrocious start, it’s hard to predict what else will go wrong for the Mets.
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Now that Lindor is out, Mendoza added they’ll adjust their plan with Soto, who was the DH in his return Wednesday and was expected to be in left field Thursday with a day off potentially Friday.
Instead, Soto will likely remain at DH to keep him in the lineup every day without exposing him to added injury risk in the outfield.
Lindor’s injury also comes just as the shortstop seemed to be heating up after a slow start. The shortstop underwent hamate bone surgery during the spring, which followed an offseason elbow procedure.
He homered in Tuesday’s loss, made a leaping grab and had an RBI infield hit Wednesday before departing.
“Whenever I miss games, it’s disappointing,” said Lindor, adding he was “encouraged” by the way he felt the day after the injury.
And he also noted that despite their record, he felt the Mets were “ready to start winning games. … It sucks to be on the side.”
He’ll be there for a while.
