{"id":280613,"date":"2026-06-28T19:34:28","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T19:34:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/280613\/"},"modified":"2026-06-28T19:34:28","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T19:34:28","slug":"jorge-polanco-injury-mets-veteran-confident-hell-return-despite-pain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/280613\/","title":{"rendered":"Jorge Polanco injury: Mets veteran confident he’ll return despite pain"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Mets\u2019 cleanup hitter and starting first baseman Sunday was Eric Wagaman, whom they had designated for assignment last month.<\/p>\n

It was yet another reminder of the difficulties of this season, particularly at a position that the Mets had not worried about for the previous seven years.<\/p>\n

Their primary replacement for Pete Alonso, Jorge Polanco, has played 14 games and on Friday began his second attempt at a rehab assignment that he feels more confident about than the first.<\/p>\n

After lasting just six minor league games in late May and early June before his ankle soreness became too intolerable to continue<\/a>, Polanco again played with Triple-A Syracuse on Friday and logged three at-bats (0-for-3 with a strikeout) in another first step \u2014 and it is just a first, with a return not imminent \u2014 he believes went well.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I\u2019ll be able to return because my leg just feels stronger,\u201d Polanco said through interpreter Alan Suriel from Citi Field on Sunday before the Mets and Phillies finished a series. \u201cI\u2019ve put more of a workload in there. But I\u2019ve also been able to recover properly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Polanco originally landed on the injured list in mid-April with a right wrist contusion, an issue he says is fully behind him. But he also had been bothered by Achilles bursitis in his right ankle, which has not gone away and which he and the Mets believe will not go away this season.<\/p>\n

\"MetsMets veteran Jorge Polanco has been limited to just 14 games this season due to injuries. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s still pain there, but it\u2019s a pain that I feel like I can tolerate,\u201d said Polanco, a 13-year veteran who has dealt with myriad injuries. \u201cI\u2019m in a position right now where my ankle does feel good enough to go out there and play.\u201d<\/p>\n

The next step is to begin logging games and at-bats, if not defensive appearances for a player who likely will solely serve as a designated hitter whenever he is ready. Interim manager Andy Green said there is no firm timeline for Polanco to return, as the club needs to see how his ankle responds.<\/p>\n

Polanco, who was signed to a two-year, $40 million pact, acknowledged his own situation and his team\u2019s \u201cdoesn\u2019t feel good.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe expectations were high. The team as a whole has not played up to our capabilities,\u201d Polanco said. \u201cAlso, no one wants to be injured. From that aspect, it hasn\u2019t been a good feeling.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut at the same time, you have to go out and continue to be positive and try to turn the tide.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Mets\u2019 cleanup hitter and starting first baseman Sunday was Eric Wagaman, whom they had designated for assignment…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":280614,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[38995,20,9,24,55,54,320,56,319],"class_list":["post-280613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-jorge-polanco","tag-mlb","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-new-york-mets","tag-ny","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280613","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=280613"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280613\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/280614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=280613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=280613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=280613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}