Mets’ Starling Marte, Bryce Montes de Oca injured in 10-4 loss to Rays
After three relatively uneventful weeks, the injury bug hit Mets camp.
Sunday afternoon, right-hander Bryce Montes de Oca, a bullpen hopeful, was removed from his outing against the Tampa Bay Rays at Clover Park with a forearm strain. The 26-year-old had been throwing 100 MPH in his previous outings and was struggling with his command and his velocity, which was down by about three ticks. Montes de Oca threw 27 pitches but only 11 for strikes and was charged with three earned runs, the first runs allowed by the 24-year-old in three Grapefruit League appearances.
Outfielder Starling Marte was also hit on the head by a pitch in the Mets’ 10-4 loss, but tested negative for a concussion. He will be reevaluated Monday.
Montes de Oca, an important pitching prospect, will undergo imaging on Monday. He previously had Tommy John surgery in high school which discouraged several teams from drafting the big righty. At 6-foot-7 with the ability to throw triple digit cutters with devastating break, Montes de Oca should have been a top draft pick out of Lawrence High School in Lawrence, Kansas, in 2014. Instead, he was selected in the 14th round by the Chicago White Sox and instead went to Missouri to play college ball. The Washington Nationals chose him in the 17th round three years later but he returned to Mizzou. Finally, the Mets took him in the ninth round in 2018.
Injuries continued to plague him throughout college in in the minor leagues. Montes de Oca had ulnar nerve transposition surgery in college in 2017 and was unable to start his professional career until 2021 due to surgeries on his arm, shoulder, back and knee between 2018-2019. The COVID-19 pandemic canceled the minor league season in 2020 and Montes de Oca was finally able to get healthy.
In 2021, he posted a photo of himself pitching for High-A Brooklyn with the caption, “This is way more fun than rehab.” He made his Major League debut last season, getting into three games before going down with a hamstring injury.
Most of the injuries have been minor, with the exception of left-handed starter Jose Quintana, who has a small stress fracture on his fifth rib on his left side. Right-hander Kodai Senga skipped a start last week with tendinitis in his right middle finger. Much like Quintana, who was set to play for Colombia in the the World Baseball Classic, left-handed reliever Brooks Raley gave up his spot on Team USA with a low-grade hamstring strain.
Manager Buck Showalter said scratching Senga was precautionary and that he likely would have played had it been the regular season, but the Mets have been extra cautious with the Japanese starter as he makes the transition to North America.
However, it goes to show that the old adage of never having enough pitching still holds true.
Standout Performers
Ronny Mauricio hit his fourth home run of the Grapefruit League season. It was another monster moonshot for Mauricio, who took a fastball by right-hander Elvin Rodriguez 452 feet over the wall. The shortstop is hitting .304 with a 1.230 OPS this spring.
Danny Mendick, who is hoping to make the team after missing much of last season with the Chicago White Sox due to ACL surgery, hit his first double of the spring.
Right-hander Carlos Carrasco made his third start and allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits and struck out four over three innings. Two of those hits were home runs.
Carrasco threw to Francisco Alvarez, the Mets’ top organizational prospect, who has been slow to get into games as a catcher with the club being careful with his surgically repaired ankle.
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