Mets outfielder Michael Conforto misses third consecutive game after HBP

The Mets are being cautious with Michael Conforto, but haven’t discussed a stint on the disabled list yet

Another day, another Mets injury, and another questionable way of approaching said injury by the Mets. Last Sunday in San Francisco, Conforto was struck by an inside pitch on his left hand and would eventually be forced to leave the game.

The Mets would reveal that there was no structural damage as the MRI was thankfully clean. Nevertheless, in typical Mets’ fashion, Conforto has been unavailable the last two games and will be once again unavailable for the series finale in Miami on Thursday.

When asked about the injury, manager Terry Collins was honest. He’s not really making much progress at the moment. Swinging a bat is still bothering him, so the Mets will continue to wait it out.

Collins also shared that he and general manager Sandy Alderson have not spoken about putting the stud outfielder on the disabled list at this moment. Conforto has already missed four days (counting Thursday) so a DL stint would only take him to the middle of next week when he’d be eligible to come back.

At this point, you have to scratch your head at the fact that the Mets are this slow when it comes to these annoying, minor injuries. How many times, this season and last, have we seen the Mets avoid putting a player on the disabled list and play shorthanded for a week before they inevitably are forced to DL said player any way? This is just typical Mets.

While none of us want to be without Conforto in the lineup for another six days, the outfield right now is actually holding down the fort quite well in his absence. Curtis Granderson has been on fire, and Jay Bruce and Yoenis Cespedes are still contributing to the offense.

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Put him on the shelf for a week. Let him get fully healthy so he can come back and start a new hot streak. This team is probably not going anywhere this season, so let’s at least keep as many of our guys as healthy for the long term as possible.