ARLINGTON, Texas — Take two. Yoenis Cespedes was back in a minor league rehab game Thursday night for the first time since being shut down over a week ago. The Cuban slugger was playing left field for the Class-A St. Lucie Mets, the same team he played for when he felt right quad soreness on May 26.
Cespedes played eight innings in left field in a 1-0 loss at Lakeland. He went 0-for-4.
The Mets are still tight-lipped about Cespedes’ timetable for return, but after his last setback, GM Sandy Alderson had indicated that this road trip to two hitter-friendly ballparks in Texas and Atlanta was the Mets target date.
That Cespedes made the two-and-a-half hour drive to Lakeland for a rehab game would seem to be an indication he is anxious to wrap up his rehab stint.
Cespedes has been on the disabled list since April 28 with a strained left hamstring. The quad injury was believed to be an aggravation of an injury that plagued Cespedes most of the 2016 season.
Unlike the last time Cespedes took this step, the Mets did not announce that Cespedes was playing in the rehab game. After the abuse they have taken in how they have handled injuries this season, Cespedes’ in particular, they have been pointedly vague when talking about the left fielder’s rehab.
“We don’t think it’s severe,” Alderson said days after Cespedes was put on the DL. “The ultrasound didn’t reveal any significant damage. . . . We don’t know how long it will take. Hamstrings are difficult, but we don’t think it’s that serious.”
It was, however, clearly more of an issue than Alderson had hoped. At that point, Alderson said that while he had confidence in the Mets medical staff, he was reviewing how they handled injuries. He was defensive about the criticism that the Mets have received for Cespedes’ injury and that of Noah Syndergaard.
The right-handed ace refused an MRI despite complaining of biceps discomfort. Thursday, Syndergaard told WFAN’s Boomer and Carton show that he had no regrets about not taking the MRI.
“There are no regrets for me, really, I knew the biceps tendinitis was flaring up, but there was nothing structurally wrong,” Syndergaard said. “I felt great all the bullpens in between and was raring to go that Sunday.”
Some have wondered if Cespedes was given too much say in managing his injury.
He had missed three games after feeling what he described as a “shock” in his left hamstring the week before he pulled the hamstring.
Signed to a four-year, $110-million deal this winter, Cespedes’ history of leg injuries was worrisome enough to the Mets to have him fly to New York last month and have his back checked. As in the case with David Wright, who was diagnosed with spinal stenosis in 2015, back issues can come with symptoms in the legs. Alderson, however, said that Cespedes’ back checked out healthy.
Now, the Mets are in the process of trying to work with the 31-year-old Cespedes to develop an off-field plan to help try and keep him healthy. After his latest shutdown, Alderson said those measures were being implemented.
On Tuesday, Mets assistant GM John Ricco said that Cespedes was “close,” but he said it was unclear if Cespedes would even need to play in a rehab game.
