Jorge Polanco is set to begin a rehab assignment with the Binghamton Rumble Ponies this morning as he battles back from bursitis in his Achilles. The twelve-year veteran has been on the injured list since April 14.
One of the Mets’ key free-agent acquisitions, Polanco played just 14 games before bursitis and a wrist injury sidelined him. He signed a two-year, $40 million deal with the Mets in an attempt to fill the void left by Pete Alonso’s departure in free agency. Thus far, he’s hit .179/.246/.286
in 61 plate appearances with the team.
It has been a battle for Polcanco to get on the field. It was the wrist injury that originally put him on the IL, but his Achilles injury started before and lasted longer than his wrist injury. Polanco received platelet-rich plasma injections to manage the pain and return to the field.
Manager Carlos Mendoza explained that Polanco will likely need to manage his Achilles for the rest of the season and maybe beyond due to the chronic nature of the injury, adding that Polanco will likely get more run at DH than first base when he arrives back with the big league club.
“Hopefully, we can get him a game or two at first base, but try to keep him off his feet as much as possible,” Mendoza said. “He’ll play some first base once he goes through his rehab assignment, but probably looking more like DH. We want to keep his bat in the lineup as much as possible.”
Polanco is coming off a resurgent year where he hit 26 home runs with an .821 OPS for the Seattle Mariners. The last-place Mets will take whatever they can get from the veteran as they try to save the season. New York has lost seven of its last eight games with a team slugging percentage of .349 that ranks last in baseball this year.
