Third time the harm
Another one bites the dust. After receiving second and third opinions on the herniated disk in his lower back that was pressing against a nerve, Neil Walker announced Thursday he will undergo season-ending surgery, joining David Wright, Lucas Duda, Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler and Juan Lagares as Mets likely out for the season.
Walker said the operation, known as microdiscectomy surgery, will include a three-month recovery and has a high success rate. Manager Terry Collins said Wednesday night that surgery was likely — hours after general manager Sandy Alderson said Walker could play through the injury and described it as “routine” — and the team’s second baseman made it official a day later before the Mets lost 6-4 to the Marlins at Citi Field. If he had continued to play through the pain, Walker estimated he would have been at 60 percent, and the condition was worsening.
“It was a very difficult decision,” said Walker, a free agent-to-be who expressed hope of a possible return with the Mets. “There were a lot of factors involved — the way the team was playing, the way I felt. I did everything I could. Twice, I played a couple of days, tried to give myself a couple days off, and the biggest issue was it was hitting a nerve. I still can’t feel my toe, and that’s caused kind of a chain reaction.
“The more I tried to push through it, the more I realized I was hurting the team and myself. I had to be honest with what was going on here. I want nothing more than to be on the field. It’s very disappointing in my eyes.”
Walker, who last played Saturday, was up in the air about the decision before meeting with a third doctor Wednesday. That doctor felt strongly he should go ahead with the surgery, instead of putting his future at risk, and further hurting his back and legs, whereas the Mets doctors weren’t as forceful about him getting the procedure done immediately. The initial plan was for him to play through the injury, as Alderson and Collins had said in recent days, after getting results of an MRI exam that showed the herniated disk.
Walker was told by doctors that playing through the injury would only make it worse. He had numbness in his toe and after playing in a few games, his legs would get weak. He felt fine swinging, but sliding, diving and running would weaken his body.
“At this time of year, with the possibility of breaking up double plays, diving for balls, trying to score from first, I just didn’t think it was the right thing for me to do, to do to the team,” Walker said. “Playing one day, taking a couple of days off, or playing two days in a row, taking a day off, as much as I was willing to do that, after talking to the doctors, they felt like that was not a good thing to do.”
Walker experienced a similar issue in 2012 with the Pirates but didn’t go through with surgery then, getting an epidural shot instead. He was 25 at the time; now he’s 30, another reason given to go ahead with the procedure.
Walker was enjoying a strong first season with the Mets after coming over from the Pirates in exchange for Jon Niese in the offseason. Replacing departed second baseman Daniel Murphy, Walker was hitting .282 with a career-best .476 slugging percentage and a career-high .823 OPS this season. He also had hit 23 home runs, equaling a career-high. Collins plans to use Kelly Johnson and Wilmer Flores at second base in place of Walker.