The New York Mets lost Jared Young last night, but there's good news about his medical condition.
New York Mets first baseman Jared Young sustained a concussion after what manager Andy Green called a “scary” collision with starter Nolan McLean in the Mets’ 3-0 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday night, according to reports from multiple outlets.
Young is out of the hospital, and he is walking and has full range of motion and full feeling in his extremities, per the reports. He does have a headache and some short-memory loss, but according to Green the tests at the hospital showed the “right kind” of results.
The first baseman’s season is over, however. The Mets placed Young on the seven-day concussion IL and recalled infielder Ronny Mauricio from Syracuse, and there’s virtually no chance Young would accompany the Mets on their final road trip against the Washington Nationals, which would represent his last chance to get back on the field.
There was video of the collision before the gruesome nature of it became clear, and according to Anthony Franco of MLBTradeRumors.com via Anthony DiComo of MLB.com, there was confusion on the ground ball that happened in the sixth inning about who was going to cover first.
Young reached for the bag with his foot at the same moment McLean reached for the ball, and the pitcher’s leg hit Young in the head and “seemed” to immediately knock Young unconscious.
Not that it matters much at this point, but it’s a serious blow to the Mets, largely due to their lack at depth at first base. It was a problem before Young stepped up and it will be a problem now, as backup Mark Vientos has been awful defensively at the position.
That issue surfaced immediately later in the game, when catcher Francisco Alvarez fired an errant pickoff throw that an accomplished first baseman might have caught. But that’s not Vientos, and the error led to one of the Phillies’ three runs.
Young will end the year with a slash line of .266/.330/.429 with nine homers over 342 plate appearances, per Franco, and he’ll be a positive problem for the Mets going into next season.
He was very productive, but probably not productive enough for a team that’s going to be looking to replace the power production of former first baseman Pete Alonso, who spent the week torturing his old team for the Baltimore Orioles, who elected to pay Alonso in free agency when the Mets passed on doing that.
