On Wednesday, the New York Mets announced slugger Yoenis Cespedes will miss the rest of the season to get surgery on both of his heels. This came as no surprise after he broke the news of surgery possibly needed to heal the lingering pain he has dealt with. Cespedes missed over two months with the injury this season and only returned for one game before landing on the DL again.
Maybe Cespedes Should Have Rested
Cespedes barely made it through one game as a designated hitter before feeling soreness the next day. When trying to score on a single from second base, he was not running well and could not slide as well. The surgery on his heels will take 8-10 months to recover from and could take even longer. The surgery will be done in two segments with each heel being done at separate times.
If the Mets were still in contention it would make sense to try to get Cespedes back into the lineup even if he was not 100 percent. After spending two months on the shelf the Mets quickly fell out of contention and the pain continued to linger. The combination of Cespedes keeping quiet and the Mets rush to get him back for just one game makes the last two months look like a waste of time.
How Much Did The Organization Know?
Things would likely be different if the organization had a grasp of how severe the injury to Cespedes was. They could have opted for surgery at the end of May and potentially have Cespedes ready for Opening Day in 2019. Opting for surgery now puts Cespedes at a May/June return at best. This makes for an interesting shake up if Jay Bruce, Brandon Nimmo and Michael Conforto are all producing in 2019.
For the time being, the Cespedes contract is comparable to the David Wright contract as Cespedes has only played 119 games over the last two seasons. Cespedes will definitely miss more time to start the 2019 season and will have to be healthy for the last two seasons of his huge contract to prove his worth. The Mets will always be a better team when he is in the lineup and it will be interesting to see how the Mets approach the start of 2019 without him.