Please, State a Met-Dical Emergency

The Mets snapped a 12-game losing streak earlier this month. You may have heard something about this. You may also know that the Mets were without their leadoff hitter, Juan Soto, for all 12 swing games. Soto, who would have been the best player on most teams, was on the shelf with a strained calf.

Soto returned on April 22, and as if by design, the Mets’ skid came to an immediate halt. They won 3-2 at home against the Twins, and the Mets were all determined to try to get themselves out of that hole.

Or so you might think.

On the night the Mets snapped their losing streak, Francisco Lindor suffered a calf injury himself. The last time a group of people had a major calf problem, the story ended with Moses destroying the first copy of the Ten Commandments. (If you’ve ever had to make a late-night Kinko’s run, know that it could be worse.) With starting first baseman Jorge Polanco already on the IL with a hand and Achilles injury, Lindor’s injury left the Mets without the starting half of their infield.

But wait, there’s more! On Tuesday, the Mets placed Kodai Senga on the IL with lumbar spine inflammation. On Thursday morning, they did the same with center fielder Luis Robert Jr., who also has a back injury.

There is no timetable for Senga’s return, although the good news is that Robert’s injury is slightly different. Outfielder undergoing treatment for spinal disc herniation, better known as what, Steve Levy?

Robert is getting an epidural to take the edge off, and is not expected to miss more than a minimum of 10 games. That’s not a big concern; over 162 games, almost every player will herniate or strain or reduce something and need a week off their feet.

Lindor, however, is facing a very long spell on the sidelines. And the Mets began the season without starting pitcher Taylor Megill and senior pitchers AJ Minter and Reed Garrett, all injured through 2025.

This list is not inclusive of all potential donors. Mike Tauchman has a torn meniscus, but even the most avid Mets fan would agree that any season that hinges on Tauchman’s knee is already lost. I wouldn’t even include Young, but he went 7-for-20 with two doubles before his meniscus tear. (Why are all these injuries coming in pairs? Did the Mets get a BOGO deal on urgent care?)

That makes Young the Mets’ fourth-most valuable player in WAR so far this season, behind Soto (oops), Lindor (oops twice), and Francisco Alvarez, who despite being plagued by injuries throughout his career, has yet to hit the bullseye this season.

He hit the wood.

The Mets have struggled with injuries, but that’s not a unique problem. Let the unharmed cast the first stone. (In fact, an uninjured person probably has more power to throw a stone than someone recovering from shoulder surgery.)

But the Mets have had two of their best players on the roster at the same time for a total of four and a half innings since April 2. And because other things have gone wrong (Robert’s injury, slow starts for returners Mark Vientos and Brett Baty, slow starts for newcomers Bo Bichette and Marcus Semien, Carson Benge who has taken a little time to adjust the things we have to get things right.

Specifically, we look at no. 3 to beat MJ Melendez. Suffice it to say that’s not the position any team wants to be in at the start of the season. Melendez is in his fifth major league season, and in his first four trips across the major leagues, he has hit over the replacement level once, in that span he has less than half a win. He’s one of those players that you can’t really describe without sounding like you have a thing for the guy.

Melendez has good speed and is a decent athlete, and last year, the Royals left him in Omaha for most of the season. The same Royals who badly needed pop allowed Jac Caglianone to hit .157 in 62 games. I was going to make a snarky comment about how big of a demotion it is from Lindor to Ronny Mauricio in such a short amount of time, and yet… Mauricio has a career wRC+ of 78. Melendez, an outfielder, and not a good one, has a career wRC+ of 90.

Having Melendez in the lineup, let alone in the middle of the lineup, is tantamount to sending out stress flares. And yet, Melendez has been the best thing about the Mets so far this season.

Sure, it’s only been 11 games, and he’s already struck out 12 times in 33 plate appearances, but the Mets aren’t exactly short on reasons to worry about the future. Let’s enjoy this one. On Thursday afternoon, Melendez went 2-for-2 with a home run and a sacrifice fly, bringing his total hitting line to .346/.406/.655 — the exact same average as Soto. Melendez drove in three of the Mets’ four runs before leaving the game in the eighth inning.

Don’t worry: Melendez is in perfect health. Carlos Mendoza struck out Melendez’s Austin Slater and lefty Richard Lovelady on the mound for Washington. Slater was fired, and firing the team’s new hero didn’t sit well with Mets fans, but that’s probably the right move from a lackluster strategy standpoint.

The Slater-for-Melendez incident is related to a bigger problem: There really isn’t much the Mets can do about this injury bug. I mean, stretch, stay hydrated, and try to hurt one at a time if possible. But I would blame their bad April a little bit on injuries and more on the fact that Soto and Melendez are the only right end of the bat right now.

Lindor’s injury is a huge blow, especially since he’s been solid throughout his career, and doubly so if this calf injury keeps him sidelined for an extended period of time. But besides that: Robert will be back soon. Minter, because of when he started his rehab, should be back in the majors within the next nine days. Megill isn’t a burdensome part of the rotation, and while Senga has struggled, the Mets have done without him up front.

They need their remaining players – Baty, Benge, Bichette, and various other non-lifers – to start putting runs on the board. If not, there will be no hope for Lindor to return to it.

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