Mets prospect injury scare in AFL: Let's ban players from games until the regular season

Jett Williams should be fine but gosh this is becoming too frequent.

Feb 22, 2024; Port St. Lucie, FL, USA;  New York Mets infielder Jett Williams (90). Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images
Feb 22, 2024; Port St. Lucie, FL, USA; New York Mets infielder Jett Williams (90). Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images / Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

In the final regular season game of the Arizona Fall League, New York Mets prospect Jett Williams crashed into the wall and suffered what so far looks like nothing more than a flesh wound.

The frightening scene brought back a wave of patterned memories. There was Edwin Diaz in the 2023 World Baseball Classic. He was hurt celebrating Team Puerto Rico’s win and didn’t come back until 2024 where he wasn’t quite the same. After a promising September in the majors, Ronny Mauricio injured his knee in the Winter League last offseason. It cost him the entire 2024 campaign.

We understand it’s not possible nor realistic to make this request, but can we fanatically put a ban on Mets players appearing in non-regular season games?

Death, taxes, and random Mets injuries in non-regular season games

Thank goodness Jose Iglesias hasn’t re-signed with the Mets already. Otherwise he would’ve torn a quad at the All-MLB Team Show in Las Vegas yesterday.

Quirky offseason injuries are a strange occurrence in baseball history. At least these recent examples happened on the field with some purpose. This wasn’t Yoenis Cespedes accidentally stepping into a hole while hunting wild boars. It wasn’t like in 2022 when Max Scherzer was bitten on the hand by his dog.

Williams suffering any sort of a major injury would’ve been a huge blow for him as an individual. He already missed most of this past year with a wrist injury. The perils of playing athletics tried to get to him one more time before his offseason could officially begin.

Fortunately, it does seem like all should be well for the speedy youngster still trying to master the outfield. Since being drafted by the Mets, he has played 1025.1 innings at shortstop and only 189 in center field. Just a single start in Binghamton in center field accounted for the only experience he had at the position until the Arizona Fall League where he has split his time equally.

Both an option for the Mets at some point in 2025 to join the big league roster and an offseason trade chip should they go after a big fish like Garrett Crochet, it’s bubblewrap season for him until we get to late February.

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