Bruised hand finally lands Conforto on DL
After five days of receiving treatment and attempting to get back in the lineup, Michael Conforto is frustrated he was placed on the 10-day disabled list prior to the Mets’ 7-6 win over the Phillies on Saturday.
He knew he had gotten hit in a delicate spot on his left hand and isn’t entirely surprised it is taking time to heal, but he wants to be out on the field and not on the bench.
“You never want to be on the DL,” Conforto said. “I wish I could be out there with these guys. We’re playing well right now and I definitely wish I could be out there, but I don’t want it to be a situation where it lingers.”
Conforto’s DL-stint was made official because of the need to make a corresponding roster move after the team activated Zack Wheeler to make his first start since suffering biceps tendonitis.
Though his stint is retroactive to June 28 due to being drilled by a Matt Moore fastball, making his eligible to return July 8, there are no guarantees.
Bone bruises can be notoriously tricky to handle.
Earlier this season, two Mets dealt with similar injuries in outfielder Brandon Nimmo and catcher Travis d’Arnaud, making them resident experts on how to know when it is time to come back from a wrist injury.
“You need to keep your swing,” d’Arnaud told The Post. “You could come back and overcompensate and change your swing which might change your approach [at the plate] and alter your whole game.”
Which is not what Conforto wants to do, considering he has been stuck in an extended slump since his hot start. For most of the first two months, Conforto seemed to be on a collision course for the AllStar Game in Miami, but then the month of June brought an abrupt cooling off period.
After slashing .317/.410/.644 with 13 home runs in 47 games during April and May, Conforto hasn’t replicated those numbers in June. Over 22 games, Conforto is hitting just .206 with one home run and is in an 18-for-89 (.202) slide, dating back to May 25.
Though Conforto’s hand is not broken, the Mets rather would be cautious with their young outfielder, for good reason, though the hope is he can return prior to the All-Star break.
“It [can] get to the point where you being in there and not feeling 100 percent, you might come up in a big spot with your hand killing you, and you hurt it more,” d’Arnaud said. “[Now] you’re gone for a month because you aggravated it more instead of a day or two days.
“There’s no predicting how long it might bother you.”