Mets Announce Unfortunate News Before Cubs Game

Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images

Mets Announce Unfortunate News Before Cubs Game

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Ayomide Adeduyite | Last updated Apr 18, 2026 11:35 AM ET

The New York Mets’ struggles continued Friday night on the road, where they fell 12-4 to the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.

The loss stretched their skid to nine straight games, the franchise’s longest losing streak in 22 years, and deepened what has been a difficult stretch on both sides of the ball. New York currently sits fifth in the National League East and has shown no sign of improvement in recent performances.

Much of the issue has come from an offense that has struggled to generate runs during the slide. But injuries to key players like Juan Soto have also added to the problem.

New York Mets manager Carlos Mendoza (64)© Rafael Suanes-Imagn Images

That situation worsened with another setback involving infielder Jorge Polanco. He had already been dealing with left Achilles bursitis since the start of the season, and after Tuesday’s loss to the Dodgers, he began experiencing soreness in his right wrist.

Polanco sat out Friday’s game and underwent an MRI in Chicago. By Saturday, the Mets provided an update on the 32-year-old and it was not encouraging: the team placed Polanco on the 10-day injured list due to the wrist injury.

We have made the following roster moves. pic.twitter.com/ygwf8phgFB
— New York Mets (@Mets) April 18, 2026

It is another tough blow for New York. Polanco has appeared in 14 games this season and is hitting .179 with a .532 OPS. The veteran switch-hitter was expected to provide a steady bat, whether in the middle of the order or in a designated hitter role.

Now, the Mets will have to look elsewhere for that production. They will lean on the rest of the roster and could call on depth pieces to fill the gap while he recovers.

The Mets will try to stop the skid in the second game of the series on Saturday. First pitch is set for 2:20 pm ET, with Freddy Peralta (1-1, 3.86 ERA) scheduled to start for New York against Jameson Taillon (0-1, 4.86 ERA) for Chicago.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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