New York Mets Kevin Plawecki Injures His Knee In Saturday’s Loss To Washington Nationals

New York Mets catcher Kevin Plawecki is trying to earn a spot on the team’s 25-man roster. During Saturday’s spring training game against the Washington Nationals, he suffered a knee injury that forced him to leave the game.

The New York Mets are in full swing for Spring Training, but it has gotten off to a rough start for Kevin Plawecki.

Plawecki had a decent first game, going 1-for-4 in Friday’s 3-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox. He did not start Saturday afternoon’s game against the Washington Nationals but came in to replace Rene Rivera at catcher to begin the top of the sixth inning. Unfortunately, he was unable to stay in the game for very long.

In the very same inning that he entered the game, Plawecki suffered a bad injury during a collision at home plate. The collision occurred when Nationals outfielder Rafael Bautista slid into him while trying to score on a groundout. The slide upended Plawecki, causing him to land on the ground hard.

Oh man. Kevin Plawecki is down and in a lot of pain. Left knee.
— Steve Gelbs (@SteveGelbs) February 25, 2017

Plawecki stayed down for a few minutes before being helped off the field by Mets trainers. It was apparent that he had injured his left knee in the collision, as Bautista had driven his shoulder into Plawecki’s knee. The Nationals would go on to win the game 8-6.

After the game, Plawecki had an X-ray done on his left knee. Mike Puma of the New York Post reported that he has a left knee contusion.

Kevin Plawecki is headed for a precautionary X-ray following the collision at home plate. Mets saying left knee contusion.
— Mike Puma (@NYPost_Mets) February 25, 2017

Right now, it is unclear how severe the injury is. The Mets have not yet released the results of Plawecki’s X-ray. Because his knee is definitely bruised, though, there is a good chance that he will be sidelined for the next few weeks.

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This injury will undoubtedly make it more difficult for Plawecki to make the 25-man roster. Rivera is already considered to be the favorite to be the Mets backup catcher. Travis d’Arnaud is expected to be the starting catcher.

Even before the injury, Plawecki had a slim chance of earning a spot on the team. This is mainly because he has had a rough time hitting at the Major League level. In 365 career at-bats, his batting average is just .211. He was going to have to have a very impressive spring training in order for Mets management to reconsider his place on the team.

Now that he is battling a knee injury, Plawecki might not even get the chance to compete for an Opening Day roster spot.

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Until the Mets reveal the results of Plawecki’s X-Ray, we will not know just how bad the injury is. Hopefully, he will not have to miss too much time.