Mets’ Mickey Callaway gives odd explanation for management of Yoenis Cespedes

The New York Mets have been dealing with a lot of injuries this season, but even in that context, manager Mickey Callaway’s explanation for how the team handled Yoenis Cespedes is a strange one.

Cespedes, currently struggling to recover from a hip injury, played through his issues for a while before ultimately hitting the disabled list. In light of his most recent setback, the team was questioned for perhaps persisting with him to his detriment, and Callaway gave a curious response.

Mickey Callaway on if Céspedes should have been moved to DL sooner: "If we took that approach we wouldn't be fielding a team today. We have guys playing through stuff right now. We can't right when someone starts feeling something take them out of the lineup & put them on the DL"

— Lindsey Adler (@lindseyadler) June 10, 2018

There’s a big difference between your run-of-the-mill injuries that require day-to-day management and having someone play through what ultimately turned out to be a hip flexor strain that apparently went undiagnosed for far too long. We heard that the Mets were concerned about the injury on May 6, but Cespedes didn’t land on the disabled list until ten days later after trying in vain to play through the pain. It would have been one thing if Cespedes was dealing with minor bumps and bruises, but this was a muscle injury on a player who has a history of dealing with muscle injuries. The excuse doesn’t fly.

The Mets are struggling, and Callaway obviously wants to defend himself and his handling of the team. That said, he’s repeatedly done it in a clumsy manner that isn’t inspiring a lot of confidence.