MLB star reveals he may need season-ending surgery after hitting homer in first game back
Well, it’s good to see the All-Star break hasn’t dulled any of the dysfunction for one of baseball’s biggest disappointments.
Mets fans had a lot to cheer about in Friday’s first game of the Subway Series against the Yankees.
Noah Syndergaard — potentially a valuable trade piece — looked more like the Thor of old, with his second consecutive strong outing after his latest injury — a strained finger.
Yoenis Cespedes was on the field for the first time since May 13, and yo, Yo looked like he was in classic form.
Hopefully all the Yoenis Cespedes fantasy owners out there remembered to put him in their lineup tonight. Was just activated from the DL today and hit this mammoth blast. Impressive. #FantasySports #Mets pic.twitter.com/Vxh1e370P9
— Jared Carrabis (@Jared_Carrabis) July 21, 2018
Despite the win, the Mets showed that organizational communication is once again lacking.
After the game, Cespedes shared with reporters that he has a painful condition in both of his heels, and needs surgery that could force him to miss not just the remainder of this season, but half of next season as well.
“I realize what is causing my problems are my heels,’’ Cespedes said Friday through a translator. “When I feel some pain on my heels, I started to modify my walking, my running, even my standing. That’s the main cause I am having [of] these problems in my leg. The only way that I can avoid my heels from keep bothering me or getting me hurt is having the surgery.
“I’m still thinking about [having the surgery] because the recovery process takes eight to 10 months.’’
That’s definitely bad news, but it was news nonetheless, at least to Mets manager Mickey Callaway, who before Saturday’s game appeared oblivious to what Cespedes said less than 24 hours earlier.
“Our priority now is Yoenis and getting him to where he can be the best player he can possibly be,” Callaway said. “How we do that, I think that’s a question for the experts that are going to re-evaluate where we’re at with him and then check him out.”
When the skipper was asked about puzzled media members about Cespedes’ comments regarding season-ending surgery, Callaway simply said he was “not quite exactly sure what he said.”
“I think that it’s something that is probably a good question for the doctors as far as if he needs surgery or not,” Callaway said. “We are aware of his heel issues and that they get painful, especially when he has long periods of time that he hasn’t done much. And then he starts coming back, his heels get pretty sore. He’s been battling that for 15 years.”
So there are really two stories here: Cespedes saying he needs surgery with a lengthy rehab period, and the fact his manager was not aware his star slugger would need surgery.
It’s clear Cespedes has physical ailments. He was not in the starting lineup Saturday after reporting soreness from his first game in two months.
That didn’t do much to boost the All-Star’s image as someone who may not exactly tough it out on the field.
Cespedes, after two months off, can’t DH in consecutive games. Is he 32 or 102?
— Mike Francesa (@MikeFrancesa) July 21, 2018
While some questioned Cespedes’ toughness, others criticized Callaway’s ignorance — or at least the appearance of ignorance.
Mickey Callaway's press conference today was an embarrassment. For the manager of a team to meet the media and say he didn't know what Cespedes said last night is staggeringly weak. If the Mets sent him out to do that, shame on them. That he agreed to do it, well, shame on him.
— Michael Kay (@RealMichaelKay) July 21, 2018
Either way, it only took one game after the All-Star break for the Mets to get back to being the Mets.
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