New York Mets Neil Walker Is Hurting

By Kenneth Teape | Jun 12, 2016

May 27, 2016; New York City, NY, USA; New York Mets second baseman Neil Walker (20) heads out on his RBI double at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports /

New York Mets second basebal Neil Walker will miss the series finale against the Milwaukee Brewers as he has had about as bad a week in the field as a player could have.

New York Mets second baseman Neil Walker has had a rough week. In what was supposed to be a happy time for Walker, as he returned to Pittsburgh for the first time as a visitor earlier in the week to face off with the Pittsburgh Pirates, things have taken a turn for the worst.

Walker’s performance against his old team was ugly at times on the field. After coming into the series against his former team with only one error on the season, Walker would go on to commit three during the three-game series. He picked up a hit in each of the three games, but had very little impact in the series otherwise.

The Mets and Walker would move on to Milwaukee for a four-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers, and things would only get worse for Walker. He was hit hard in the chest by a ground ball by Hernan Perez in the series opener, and was forced from the game. That relegated him to only being able to pinch-hit on Friday night, which he did and struck out in his at-bat.

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On Saturday Walker returned to the lineup, but once again was unable to get through the whole game. Walker was only able to make it through three innings on Saturday before a back injury flared up and forced him from the game.

The back injury is something that Walker seems to deal with on a yearly basis, and this year it decided to pop up this weekend in the midst of an already horrible week.

"“I took a checked swing my first at-bat and just something tightened up in my lower back,” Walker said. “I tried to push through it. It didn’t loosen up that much. So I decided to come out. I’ve had similar issues in the past. It usually happens once a season — something like that. From my experience, it takes a couple of days. I’ve got to let it calm down and then we’re good. Unfortunately, I never really know when it’s coming on. Today was one of those days.”"

Walker has already said that he will not be able to take the field Sunday in the series finale, but he is hoping that anti-inflammatory medicine will help him get back on the field Tuesday when the Mets begin their homestand against the Pirates for three games at Citi Field. The injury is not something that Walker is overly concerned with, as he has dealt with this injury in the past.

“I’m not concerned,” Walker said about the lower-back issue. “Like I said, I’ve dealt with this for the last four or five years. I kind of know. But it’s frustrating because you’re trying to help the team win, you’re trying to help the team in any way, shape or form. And you feel like you’re kind of holding yourself back. And then you realize you’re not helping the team, either. I’ll let this thing calm down. We’ve got a lot of season to go obviously.”

The mets are hoping that this injury isn’t a major concern, as they are already dealing with plenty of injuries to starting players. Travis d’Arnaud, Lucas Duda and David Wright are all out already, and the Mets are having a difficult enough time replacing all of them.

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If they are forced to replace Walker for a period of time, we could see them go back to the trade market to try filling the void on their bench again.

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