One thing that has become abundantly clear about Yoenis Cespedes in his short time with the Mets is he is prone to leg issues.  It’s really not any fault of his own.  He does all he can do each and every offseason to address it.  After a 2016 season where he dealt with a quad injury, he changed things up, and he went heavy on the Barwis Method.  Unfortuantely, it didn’t prevent him from having any leg issues this season.

It may be hard for Mets fans to admit, but Cespedes is far from invincible.  The player that dominated in August 2015 could go down any minute with a leg issue.  Knowing that, it should be incumbent upon the Mets, who are obviously aware of the issue, to act with precaution with Cespedes.  That goes double when you consider Cespedes could very well be the most important player on this team.

Last year, Cespedes was hobbled by the quad.  The Mets response to his injury was for him to skip the All Star Game.  He did not play in a game for a stretch of 9 games.  He returned to the lineup and hit a very un-Cespedes like .205/.302/.318 in 14 games before the team finally acknowledged he had to go on the disabled list.  Essentially, the Mets messed around trying to get the bare minimum from Cespedes for about a month before they realized the leg injury wasn’t going to get any better, and he wasn’t going to be able to perform to the normal Cespedes standards.

AFTER THAT, you would think the Mets would treat Cespedes’ leg injury different this year.  They saw how it affected the way he played last year.  The disabled list has gone from 15 to 10 games meaning Cespedes could have been available five games sooner this year.  Before Thursday’s game, he was winching while taking batting practice.  Despite this, the Mets ran him out on the field.  Putting it plainly, it was a dumb decision.

We all know what happened from there.  Cespedes hit an opposite field double, and he aggravated his injury approaching second base.  The best hitter on a team struggling offensively had to be helped off the field.  At this point, no one knows when, or even if, he will return.  All of this so Cespedes could play 13 innings after the Mets discovered he had a hamstring injury.

Every game Cespedes is unavailable to play is another game the Mets offense is compromised.  More than any other player, the Mets needed to protect Cespedes, and they didn’t.  What is infuriating is Terry Collins‘ comments after the game, where he said, “He did all the things that were required to get in the lineup.  It just happens. It’s easy to say you should have put him on the DL. Well you know what? Every time you turn around for every little thing, if you keep putting guys on the DL, we can’t run anybody out there.”  (Mike Puma, New York Post).

I’m not sure how a player who winces while swinging the bat during batting practice “did all the things required to get in the lineup.”  At this point, it is fair to question is all that was necessary for Cespedes to get into the lineup was his ability to put on the correct uniform combination for the day.

And yes, when you have injured players, you put them on the disabled list.  Certainly, you protect someone like Cespedes who is vitally important to your team.  We saw it just last year!  When Cespedes has an injury like this to his legs, he’s compromised as a hitter.  You’re not getting Cespedes out there.  It’s an unfortunate truth.  You’d be better off letting him sit 10 games than allowing what happened yesterday to happen.  Because the Mets did this, they got 13 innings out of Cespedes, which in turn might have cost them a couple of months for Cespedes.

Once again, this team has completely botched an injury situation.  This is one everyone.  It’s on Cespedes for not asking out of the lineup.  It’s on Collins for putting him in the lineup.  It’s on Ray Ramirez for being Ray Ramirez.  It’s on Sandy Alderson, who is ultimately the one responsible in these situations.  Because none of these people made the right decision, the Mets are in real trouble now.  And all they got in return for this unnecessary risk was 13 innings.