The New York Mets announced that outfielder Starling Marte has been placed on the 10-Day IL with a right knee bone bruise.
The move is retroactive to June 23.
For most of June, Marte has struggled to remain healthy, originally sitting out a June 5 game against the Nationals due to right knee pain. Marte rested twice more in the following weeks before leaving Saturday’s game against the Cubs in the second inning. He underwent medical tests on Monday, which revealed the bone bruise in his right knee.
This marks Marte’s eighth trip to the injured list since 2016. He is slashing .278/.328/.416 in 66 games this season, with negative defensive metrics.
A big defensive blunder by Marte in the fourth inning of New York’s London game against the Philadelphia Phillies earlier this month had people buzzing. With Edmundo Sosa facing a 1-2 count with two outs and two runners in scoring position, the Phillies shortstop made contact with the ball which should have been an easy flyout. But Marte seemingly miscalculated the ball’s direction, as it dropped in front of him. That blunder led to a run scored for Philly to take the 2-1 lead and opened the floodgates for a big inning.
The Mets recalled outfielder Ben Gamel from Triple-A Syracuse.
Gamel is an eight-year veteran who came to the Mets on a Minor League deal earlier this year.
Mets will be without Edwin Diaz as well as Starling Marte
Marte isn’t the only key player that the Mets will be missing. Closer Edwin Diaz will begin serving his 10-game suspension on Tuesday night, per Andy Martino of SNY.
The closer was thrown out of Sunday night’s series-finale game at Wrigley Field against the Chicago Cubs before he could even throw a pitch.
New York went with Diaz in the bottom of the night to close out the game with the Mets ahead by three runs, 5-2. However, second base umpire Brian Walsh seemed to notice something off while checking Diaz’s hands. New York manager Carlos Mendoza tried to make a case for Diaz, but crew chief Vic Carapazza ultimately decided to eject him from the game over the illegal substance found on the closer’s hands.
With his ejection due to the illegal substance, Edwin Diaz is now about to serve a mandatory 10-game suspension. Diaz had the right to make an appeal but elected to begin serving the suspension on Tuesday night.
After the game, Diaz told reporters that the substance found on his hand was “the same thing” he usually uses.
Carapazza, however, disagreed as he sounded convinced that what Diaz had in his hands is something that shouldn’t be used in a baseball game.
“It definitely wasn’t rosin and sweat. We’ve checked thousands of these. I know what that feeling is. This was very sticky,” Carapazza said.
This is another wild turn of events in Diaz’s up-and-down 2024 season. The Mets reliever has just returned from an injury that forced him to miss over three weeks of action. He has been solid since returning from injury, having allowed no runs and two hits with three strikeouts, two saves, and a win in his first three appearances this June.
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