New York Mets slugger J.D. Martinez is day-to-day after taking a pitch to the elbow and exiting New York's 9-4 defeat to the Oakland Athletics early. The injury he sustained, thankfully, doesn’t seem to be super bad.
The Mets are not far removed from the playoff picture but let a chance to pick up a win against a bad A's team slip by. The bad night was exacerbated when Martinez took a 99.6 mph fastball squarely to his left elbow from Joe Boyle in the second inning. He wasn’t lifted from the game until the third, with the Mets listing his injury as a left elbow contusion. The designated hitter came around to score after a Jeff McNeil walk and Jose Iglesias single after getting plunked.
Martinez said that he plans to wear an elbow guard, according to Bill Ladson of MLB.com. The almost-37-year-old has never worn one in his 14-year MLB career but is going to try it out after almost getting injured.
“I just know it was really swollen and hurt a lot. But I didn’t think anything was broken,” Martinez said, via MLB.com. “It’s pretty much no strength. That’s what it feels like. I can’t squeeze my hand. It hit that little nerve there.”
J.D. Martinez day-to-day after being hit by pitch
Martinez, still one of the best hitters in the game, has a .781 OPS and 53 RBI in 88 games/369 plate appearances with the Mets this season. X-rays returned negative, a sign that he won’t be sidelined for a prolonged stretch. New York will need his big-time hitting down the home stretch, which features a lot of important series.
The Mets, at 61-58, are just on the outskirts of the National League playoff picture. They recently passed the Atlanta Braves in the standings but don’t have much more room for error with so many playoff-contending teams on their tail.
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