Robinson Cano was hopeful he would return to the Mets’ lineup on Saturday, but less decisive when asked if he was confident he could avoid another stint on the injured list with reoccurring left quad tightness.
“Well, I don’t want to say confident. Let’s see how it feels tomorrow,” Cano said Friday before remaining out of the lineup for the second straight game, a 5-1 Mets loss to the Rockies at Citi Field. “It feels good right now. That’s how I felt the other day, [when] I took ground balls, [batting practice], everything was good and then it got tight again. So hopefully tomorrow everything goes well so I’ll be able to play.”
Cano was out on the field early Friday afternoon under the watchful eye of the Mets’ training staff, manager Mickey Callaway and general manager Brodie Van Wagenen. The second baseman ran and took ground balls, and while Cano appeared to struggle wrangling balls too far to his left or right, Callaway said he “came out of it well.”
Cano said he expected to go through the same workout Saturday, after which a decision could be made on his readiness. He has not played since Wednesday, his first game back from the IL, when he felt tightness again while running to first base.
“I ran hard today,” Cano said. “It felt good, but it was the first time I ran like 100 percent, so they just want to wait and see tomorrow because we don’t want to take any chances or anything. We’re going to do it again tomorrow and then after that, we’ll decide tomorrow.”
Cano said if it were up to him, he would have been in the lineup Friday and that he had not thought about playing it safe and taking 10 days to rehab on the injured list.
Dominic Smith had a burn on the back of his right leg after sliding hard into second base to break up a fourth-inning double play, which the Rockies flubbed with an error. Smith, who was starting his fifth game of the year in left field and went 2-for-3 with a walk, needed a new pair of pants and some ice postgame, but wasn’t worried it would keep him sidelined.
Brandon Nimmo (bulging disk in his neck) continued his rehab assignment Friday night and was the DH for the second straight game for Single-A St. Lucie. The outfielder went 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout. He will have to play the outfield before he is ready to be activated.
The Mets have homered in 14 straight home games, their longest streak in Citi Field history. … Original Met Frank Thomas and Rico Brogna, who played for the club from 1994-96, were at Citi Field as part of the Mets’ alumni program.
