New York Mets Place Ailing Infielder on IL

Jorge Polanco's New York Mets tenure has not gotten off to a good start in the health department.

The often injured infielder has dealt with bursitis in his Achilles and now a wrist injury that has landed him on the shelf.

On Saturday, the Mets placed Polanco on the 10-day IL with a right wrist contusion retroactive to April 15 and called up catcher Hayden Senger from Triple-A Syracuse.

Polanco underwent an MRI earlier in the week after experiencing soreness in his wrist. The result was an IL situation and the Mets will now be without one of their top position players.

Polanco has also been hampered by the Achilles issue all season that has relegated him to DH duties despite the fact that he was signed to play first base.

In 14 games this year, the 32-year-old is slashing just .179/.246/.286 with a .532 OPS, one home run and two RBI. This is not what the Mets envisioned when they signed Polanco to be a middle of the order bat.

Polanco is coming off a career-year with the Seattle Mariners, where he slashed .265/.326/.495 with a .821 OPS, 26 homers and 78 RBI in 138 games. Last season was the first time Polanco played above 118 games since 2021.

Throughout his 13-year big-league career, Polanco has been plagued by injuries. For that, the Mets took a risk when signing him to a two-year, $40 million deal in the offseason.

So far, the move to bring in Polanco hasn't paid off. But if he rests up on the IL and comes back healthy, it could pay dividends for the Mets' struggling offense.

What The Polanco Injury Means

With Polanco sidelined, there will be more opportunities for Mark Vientos and Brett Baty at first base and DH.

However, both Vientos and Baty are struggling immensely at the plate.

After a red-hot series in San Francisco, Vientos has gone just 1-for-25 offensively. On the season, he's batting .239 with a .265 on-base percentage and .613 OPS.

Baty has not been much better. He's 0 for his last 17 and just 1 for his last 21 at-bats. On the year, Baty is hitting .197 with a .190 on-base percentage and .469 OPS.

Baty had a breakout season in 2025, where he slashed .254/.313/.435 with a .748 OPS, 18 homers and 50 RBI in 130 games.

Vientos is two years removed from his own breakout season in 2024, where he slugged 27 homers and posted a .838 OPS.

In addition to Baty and Vientos, MJ Melendez and Tommy Pham should see more at-bats at DH.

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