PHILADELPHIA -- Juan Lagares is headed to the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan for a Monday morning MRI of his painful right rib cage as the Mets make initial preparations to put the center fielder on the disabled list.
den Dekker
Lagares Matt den Dekker, who was due to fly from Philly to Las Vegas on Sunday night, instead has been told to skip the flight and stick around. Den Dekker, demoted before Sunday's game when the Mets added extra arm Dana Eveland, would be re-promoted for Monday's series finale assuming Lagares lands on the DL, which is expected.
Den Dekker normally would have to spend 10 days in the minors after a demotion, but that rule is waived if a major league player simultaneously is placed on the DL.
Lagares experienced pain in the back of his right rib cage while swinging late in Sunday's game and was pulled in the 10th inning. He had been scratched from Saturday's game, but returned to the starting lineup Sunday after telling the staff pregame that he was OK.
"I started to feel it the other day a little bit. Today I feel it a little more," Lagares said. "When I came here today I felt like normal. I swung in the cage and didn't feel anything. During the game, in my last at-bat, I felt it a little more and I said, 'I have to stop. That's not normal.' It's like in my oblique, in my back."
Although the DL seems probable at this point, Lagares added: "I have to wait until tomorrow to see what the MRI says. Let's see what happens."