Lucas Duda injured himself just before camp early in February.
It still seems to be bothering him. He had stained his left intercostal muscle (groups of muscles that run between the ribs) and is expected to be fine for Opening Day.
The Mets originally wanted Duda to miss a few days of squad workouts, but will instead have Duda play it safe and have him not swing a bat for another week or so. Terry Collins had this to say:
Nobody is more upset than he is. He’s a workaholic. He’s bound and determined to be as good as he can be. He overdid it, and now he’s got to back off. I said, ‘Listen, we’ve got a long time to get you ready. We can certainly get that done. But you’ve got to be patient and get rid of this thing so it doesn’t flare up again.’
Truth is truth. Duda is a workaholic. He worked hard to earn his starting job at first (for the first time) as well for his record 30 homerun season. But, for the time being the Mets are giving him a break from swing the bat. The guy can use some rest. Ones hes at full strength he’ll be the overachiever we all know and expect him to be. In the meantime, LET’S GO METS!
