NEW YORK — The news keeps getting worse for the New York Mets.
In their 5-2 loss to the New York Yankees on Friday, starter Clay Holmes suffered a fracture in his right fibula that will keep him out “a long time,” manager Carlos Mendoza said.
Holmes was hit in the right leg by Spencer Jones’ 111 mph low line drive in the fourth inning. The ball ricocheted into foul territory, allowing Jones to reach first base. Remarkably, Holmes stayed in the game not only to finish the fourth inning but also to get another out in the fifth.
Only when he walked Jazz Chisholm Jr. and came out of the game did Holmes feel as if something was wrong in his leg. An X-ray confirmed a fracture.
“It’s a huge blow,” Mendoza said. “He’s been one of the most consistent guys we’ve had in our rotation. Yeah, it’s a really big blow.”
“It just sucks,” Juan Soto said. “Clay is one of the hardest workers I’ve seen in my career. It’s really sad when it happens to him.”
“It says a lot about who he is to go back out there again that next inning with a broken leg,” Jones, who has worked out with Holmes in the offseason in Nashville, Tenn., said. “It’s incredible.”
The injury to Holmes is a blow for so many reasons. First, he’s been the Mets’ best starting pitcher this season. He entered Friday with a 1.86 ERA, and New York was 5-3 in his starts (compared with 13-22 in everyone else’s). The four runs he allowed in 4 1/3 innings to his former team Friday were his most in a start this season.
Second, the team’s back half of the rotation was just starting to emerge from a season-long state of flux. Christian Scott has pitched better since his second call-up, and David Peterson has been sharper of late when paired with catcher Luis Torrens. But the injury to Kodai Senga and the struggles of Sean Manaea have already stretched the Mets’ initial depth.
Mendoza didn’t point to any obvious replacements for Holmes when his next turn comes in the rotation on Wednesday in Washington. Manaea has been the Mets’ long man all season, and the team anticipated he would eventually return to the rotation. But Manaea has posted a 6.56 ERA in that role.
Jonah Tong is in Triple-A Syracuse and on the 40-man roster. Tong has had an inconsistent start to his minor-league season; after a solid run of four starts, he lasted just five outs his last time on the hill on Thursday, yielding seven runs.
Jack Wenninger, who last pitched Tuesday, has posted sparkling numbers for Syracuse, with a 1.08 ERA through seven starts and 33 1/3 innings. But even within that start to the season, the right-hander has struggled with his command: His walk rate is over 13 percent. That’s not ideal ahead of a big-league debut.
Of course, nothing has been ideal about the Mets’ season. While Holmes is the first major loss the pitching staff has suffered this season, the offense has been beset by injuries from the first week of the year. Four of the Mets’ nine Opening Day starters are currently on the injured list in Francisco Lindor, Jorge Polanco, Luis Robert Jr. and Francisco Alvarez. The only one with a timetable for his return is Alvarez, who is expected back in about two months.
It’s possible the Mets don’t get the majority of those guys — or even any of those guys — back much before the All-Star break. For a team that is already eight games under .500 and whose schedule gets notably more difficult in June, the challenge of turning it around ahead of the trade deadline is getting steeper and steeper.
“Every team’s got to deal with adversity, right?” Mendoza said. “We’ve got to keep going. We can’t put our heads down.”
