Mets outfielder Juan Lagares suffers left oblique injury

During Saturday afternoon’s game against the Atlanta Braves, Mets outfielder Juan Lagares injured his left oblique, and would have to be removed from the game.

In the third inning of the Saturday’s contest in Lake Buena Vista, Lagares was legging out a ground ball, and caused the unfortunate damage. In the replay, you could see him slow down as he was reaching the bag instead of running through it. Lagares would not return to the game in the bottom of the third as the Mets staff thought it best to sit him after that.

There’s still no word on the severity of the injury, but having Juan go down again would be extremely disappointing given the amount of time he’s missed over the last couple of years.

Lagares, who won the gold glove in 2014, has had a difficult time staying on the field since that great year. In 2015, he struggled through a right shoulder issue that made his throwing ability suffer heavily. Last season, he missed a couple of months after partially tearing a thumb ligament.

If Lagares is healthy, he’ll obviously be a lock for the Opening Day roster as he’s the Mets best defensive outfielder. However, from a surplus of outfielders, injuries have now taken out two of them to a degree that is, at best, concerning.

Outfielder Brandon Nimmo is still sidelined thanks to his own injury. He could possibly be a viable fifth outfielder for the Mets Opening Day roster if Lagares is expected to miss a considerable amount of time. But until Nimmo’s hamstring gets better, the Mets outfield depth would include Michael Conforto and Ty Kelly. This is yet another reason New York’s outfield cannot afford to have Lagares out for an extended period of time going into the start of the regular season.

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Hopefully Lagares’ injury will be minor, and he’ll be able to get back out there soon. We really can’t wait for Spring Training to be over, so we can start playing games that actually mean something.