The injury bug has found a new team to bite this year, and it looks like that team is the New York Mets. Already down two pitchers (Zack Wheeler, Josh Edgin) to Tommy John surgery, the Mets have now shut down second baseman Daniel Murphy because of a hamstring problem.
New York Newsday's Marc Craig reports that Murphy may have to start the regular season on the disabled list with a strained right hamstring. Murphy left Thursday's Spring Training game, and Saturday's Mets Injury Report has him listed as out for at least one week as of Friday.
Craig cites a Major League rule that stipulates, "Players on the 40-man roster who are injured from now until the end of camp are required to go on the Big League disabled list, where they would rack up service time." The Spring Training schedule ends Saturday, April 4, two weeks from Saturday. The rule means that if Murphy cannot play again by then, he must start the season on the disabled list.
According to Mets general manager Sandy Alderson, Murphy will likely miss much more than a week. Alderson claimed, "Hamstrings usually take longer than people want to admit,'' indicating that he will need to find a replacement when the season begins on April 6.
Craig also notes that the Mets would likely use either Matt Reynolds or Daniel Muno at second base to start the season until Murphy is ready. Either would make his Major League debut in that situation.
In 2014, Murphy had a very solid slash line of .289/.332/.403 with 9 HR and 57 RBI in 143 games. These totals are nearly identical to his average in five years as the Mets' full-time second baseman in 2009 and from 2011 to 2014.
The Mets open the season in our nation's capital against the Washington Nationals on Monday, April 6, at 4:05 p.m.