WASHINGTON — New York Mets center fielder Harrison Bader injured his neck and upper back area crashing into the wall trying to make a catch Tuesday night at the Washington Nationals.
Manager Carlos Mendoza called Bader day to day after pulling him from the game in the fourth inning. Brandon Nimmo replaced Bader and drove in two runs as part of New York’s 7-2 victory in 10 innings. Nimmo was seeing his first game action since cutting his forehead when he fainted and fell in his hotel room on Sunday night.
Mendoza said he was pretty comfortable putting Nimmo in.
“After he went through his pregame routine, he came in the office and said, ‘I’m good to go,'” Mendoza recalled. “And then after he saw that Bader play, he went right in and started moving around, so he was ready to go and then obviously we saw it.”
Bader went back on a ball hit by Jacob Young in the bottom of the third and collided left arm first with the video screen in right-center field. He was slow to get to his feet but stayed in the game until Mendoza decided to take him out.
The Mets were without designated hitter J.D. Martinez because of a sore left ankle.
“He said he felt something last night, didn’t think much of it and then today, same,” Mendoza said. “And then when he went to hit in the cages, he didn’t feel right. Hopefully it’s just a day or two. We’ll see what we got tomorrow, but that’s all to it.”
Martinez explained to reporters that he wore new cleats Monday due to a delayed shipment and woke up with a sore ankle Tuesday morning.
Bader, 30, is hitting .273 with six home runs and 31 RBIs in his first season with the Mets after signing a one-year, $10.5 million contract in January. He split last season between the New York Yankees and Cincinnati Reds and previously played several seasons for the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
