Juan Lagares to have surgery on hyperextended toe, likely out for the season

Today the Mets announced that Juan Lagares has been placed on the 10-day disabled list for a toe injury he suffered in Wednesday’s game when he crashed into the outfield wall while making a running catch. Lagares’ MRI revealed “a complete tear of the big toe plantar plate,” which will require surgery to repair. His surgery is tentatively scheduled for next week and he will likely miss the remainder of the 2018 season.

Juan Lagares had been excelling off the bench this season, putting up a 112 wRC+ and accruing 0.5 fWAR in just 64 plate appearances.

For now, Lagares’ spot on the roster will be filled by Jerry Blevins, who has been activated from the paternity list. However, with Yoenis Cespedes also on the disabled list, the Mets suddenly find themselves very thin in the outfield, so another move for a position player may be imminent. Phillip Evans was recalled when Yoenis Cespedes was placed on the disabled list and now stands as the fourth outfielder. The other outfield options are not exactly appealing. Bryce Brentz remains on the disabled list in Triple-A and the Vegas outfield is currently being manned by a combination of Matt den Dekker, Zach Borenstein, Patrick Biondi, and Patrick Kivlehan. Ty Kelly currently sports an .844 OPS at Triple-A and seems like a possibility as well.

After starting the season pretty healthy, the injury bug seems to have bitten the 2018 Mets.