NEW YORK -- A Mets club battling injuries up and down its roster lost one of its sturdiest players Sunday, when Asdrúbal Cabrera left in significant pain after slipping on the basepaths. Cabrera stumbled rounding third base on Neil Walker's first-inning RBI triple, collapsing to the ground after he touched home plate. He needed assistance from multiple trainers to leave the field.
The Mets diagnosed Cabrera with a strained patella tendon in his left knee, scheduling him for a more thorough examination Monday at Manhattan's Hospital for Special Surgery. Even as the Mets' 6-4 win over the Rockies was unfolding, the Mets were beginning to brace for life without their starting shortstop.
"I'm really concerned about it -- really concerned," manager Terry Collins said. "He was in a lot of pain, a lot more than I've ever seen him."
Cabrera had been one of the few Mets starters largely unaffected by injuries this season, batting .255 with 13 home runs in a team-high 101 games. His knee discomfort actually dates back to Spring Training, when Cabrera missed multiple weeks with an injury that required a platelet-rich plasma injection. The issue has since flared up multiple times over the course of the season, but had never cost Cabrera more than a stray game until Sunday.
"We didn't have to carry him off the field in Spring Training," Collins said.
To replace Cabrera, the Mets shifted Wilmer Flores over to shortstop, inserting Kelly Johnson at third base. That could become a regular alignment for the Mets, who began discussing options for the left side of their infield after Sunday's game. ESPN reported that Matt Reynolds will join the club, though his activation will depend upon Cabrera's assignment to the DL.
Reynolds hit .233 in 27 games for the Mets earlier this season, and entered Sunday's play in an 0-for-12 slump at Las Vegas. But unlike alternate options Gavin Cecchini and T.J. Rivera, he is already on the 40-man roster.