Marte going for more tests after beaning

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- A concerning situation unfolded for the Mets on Sunday, as outfielder Starling Marte departed after taking a pitch off his helmet in the fifth inning. Initial concussion tests came back negative, but the Mets will reevaluate Marte on Monday to be safe.

“He may have gotten lucky,” manager Buck Showalter said. “I hope so. We’ll see.”

Marte, who made his Grapefruit League debut on Friday following offseason groin surgery, could not leap out of the way of Elvin Rodriguez’s 93 mph fastball that struck him above the left earflap on his helmet. Somehow managing to remain on his feet, Marte walked off the field under his own power, but the Mets took the obvious precaution of removing him from the game.

The team did not make Marte available for questions after its 10-4 loss to the Rays.

Last year, the Mets had two players hit in the head by pitches, Pete Alonso (twice) and Francisco Lindor.

Another pitcher down
Reliever Bryce Montes de Oca became the latest Mets pitcher to suffer an injury when he departed in the ninth inning due to right forearm discomfort. Montes de Oca is due to receive imaging on Monday for what Showalter referred to as a “forearm strain.”

It was an ill-timed blow for Montes de Oca, the team’s No. 22 prospect per MLB Pipeline who had presented himself well in camp over his first two outings, reaching 101 mph with significant movement on his pitches. A candidate to make the Mets’ Opening Day roster after making his MLB debut last season, Montes de Oca now must wait to hear the results of his MRI.

Montes de Oca has struggled with injuries throughout his career. The 6-foot-7, 265-pound reliever missed three consecutive Minor League seasons from 2018-20 due to labrum capsule surgery on his right shoulder, a laminectomy and discectomy on his back, a medical regimen to repair blood clots in his lungs and an operation to repair ligaments in a knee.

As he walked the first three batters of the ninth inning Sunday, Montes de Oca’s velocity was noticeably down, with his last four sinkers registering at 97 mph -- more than 2 mph slower than his average entering the afternoon. The right-hander asked to keep pitching, “but he was having a little bit of trouble getting extended,” as Showalter put it.

The Mets did not make Montes de Oca available for questions.

? Senga scratched in another pitching setback

“I like the idea that he felt good enough to keep pitching, but … if we took a picture of everybody’s elbow, including this room, you’d probably find something,” Showalter said. “If you dig deep enough, you’ll probably find something wrong. But at least we’ll know what we’re dealing with, instead of the unknown.”

Montes de Oca is the latest entry on a list of Mets pitcher injuries including David Peterson, José Quintana, Brooks Raley and Kodai Senga. Of those four, only Quintana is expected to miss significant time.

Finding Nimmo
Following more than a month of workouts at Mets camp without a game appearance, outfielder Brandon Nimmo finally made his Grapefruit League debut, playing four innings in center field. In true Nimmo fashion, he walked twice in two plate appearances.

“It felt good to get back out there,” Nimmo said.

The slow spring progression was by design for Nimmo, who struggled with injuries before appearing in a career-high 151 games last season on the heels of an abbreviated Spring Training -- the result of Major League Baseball’s lockout. Given that sort of success, Nimmo and team trainers decided he might benefit by limiting his Grapefruit League appearances on an annual basis.

Nimmo has been facing live pitching regularly on the back fields, and he may still amass extra at-bats in Minor League games. By the end of March, he plans to play at least two consecutive nine-inning Grapefruit League games.

“We can look at last year and we can say I played 151 games,” Nimmo said. “There’s just not a lot of center fielders that do that. When you find a recipe that works, you kind of just want to stick with it. If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.”

Don’t look back in anger
Known for his offense more than his defense, top-ranked prospect Francisco ?lvarez flashed some ability behind the plate in the third inning Sunday, picking off Gavin Collins at first base. Upon catching Carlos Carrasco’s pitch, ?lvarez threw an 80 mph strike from his knees to beat Collins back to the bag.

“Pretty good, man,” Carrasco said. “He got it right there.”