Yoenis Cespedes and non-baseball related injuries

There has been a lot of talk recently about Mickey Callaway and his status as the manager of the New York Mets. Amid all of the chatter and speculation, the club was hit with a bombshell in the form of another injury on Monday afternoon; reports indicated that Yoenis Cespedes fell in a hole and fractured multiple bones in his ankle on his personal ranch. Usually the news of your highest paid player getting injured off the field would be the most interesting story of the week however it seems to have taken a backseat to the possible firing of Mickey Callaway and the overall performance of the club.

The injury comes during his rehabilitation of heel spur removal which was supposed to remove Cespedes from any significant baseball activity for most, if not all, of 2019. Cespedes is in the third year of a four year, $110 million dollar contract in which he has only played 119 games thus far. He now joins a list of freakish non-baseball related injuries by Mets players, adding insult to, well, injury.

In 2004 the Mets prized starting pitcher Tom Glavine lost two front teeth in automobile accident on his way to Shea Stadium. Glavine only missed one start and finished the year with a respectable 3.60 ERA.

In 2006 reliever Duaner Sanchez dislocated his pitching shoulder in a taxi accident while traveling to a restaurant in Miami. The injury ended the season for Sanchez, who was on his way to a solid campaign with a 2.60 ERA as the clubs setup man.

In 2012 Ike Davis was diagnosed with valley fever which is a fungal infection that is released from dirt. The infection hit its stride in the preseason and Davis was able to avoid the Injured List.

During this most recent preseason Brandon Nimmo made headlines with reports of food poisoning from undercooked chicken. While jokes were made at the expense of Nimmo’s cooking prowess, in reality it left the outfielder out of action for a considerable amount of time. This may have been a factor in his slow start to the 2019 season as his reps were still coming into form.

Last year Noah Syndergaard was diagnosed with Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease after spending time at a camp for children. The disease is primarily a children’s disease, so of course given the Mets history their ace would contract it. Syndergaard was placed on the IL and missed a number of starts as a result of the disease.

In 2015 left handed reliever Jerry Blevins slipped while stepping off a street curb and re-fractured a bone in his pitching arm. The slip required Blevins to undergo corrective surgery and limited him to only seven appearances on the year.

During a clubhouse altercation with his father in law following a poor performance, Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez tore a ligament in his thumb. The injury was compounded by an arrest, salary fine, and suspension from the team. K-Rod was eventually traded to the Brewers.

In the 2012 offseason, Lucas Duda broke his wrist moving furniture in his apartment in Southern California. Fortunately for Duda and the Mets, he was able to recover in time for Spring Training.

In 1988, Mets pitcher Bobby Ojeda ripped into his middle finger with an electric trimmer while landscaping his hedges. The injury came in the midst of a clinched playoff berth; unfortunately the club lost Ojeda for the remainder of the season.

The Mets have received a lot of criticism over the years for how they have handled (or not handled) baseball injuries; for years Ray Ramirez was the scapegoat in this regard. However the club clearly isn’t being helped by some off the field malpractice by their players. Yoenis Cespedes is clearly a physical specimen, and the Mets own a better record with him in the lineup, but his antics of sports cars, horses, and golf have frustrated fans for years. There are reports that the Mets ownership may look into the contract situation in an effort to recoup their losses. It is already known that the Mets have an insurance policy on his deal, although the amount is not clear. Some can wonder if we have seen the last of Yoenis Cespedes as a Met with the details of this most recent ranch incident unfolding.