Mets place Jorge Polanco (wrist) on 10-day IL, retroactive to April 15
The Mets' Jorge Polanco looks on during a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 13, 2026, in Los Angeles, Calif. Credit: Getty Images/Sean M. Haffey
CHICAGO — It looked as if it would be his ankle; instead, it was his wrist.
The Mets placed a battered Jorge Polanco on the 10-day injured list retroactive to April 15 on Saturday. However, the culprit wasn’t the ankle bursitis that he’s managed for weeks but a right wrist contusion he suffered against the Dodgers this past week.
Catcher Hayden Senger was recalled from Triple-A Syracuse in a corresponding move.
Polanco, who originally was suspected to have an Achilles strain and had been relegated to designated hitter duties since March, was seeing progress in what eventually was diagnosed as bursitis, manager Carlos Mendoza said. Then he faced Yoshinobu Yamamoto on Tuesday and suffered the injury while swinging the bat.
“When the doctors first took a look at him, it looked like he got hit by a pitch when he didn’t,” Mendoza said. “It just got worse the following day.” There’s no timetable for his return.
It’s bad timing for Polanco and the Mets, who extended their losing streak to 10 games on Saturday with a 4-2 loss to the Cubs. Though he was acclimating to a new position at first base, the team had taken it slow with Polanco throughout spring training in an effort to preserve his durability after a 2024 knee surgery. He is batting .179 with a homer, two RBIs, five walks and 11 strikeouts in 14 games.
Senger has had a strong start in Triple-A with a .257/.316/.714 slash line, five homers and 11 RBIs in 12 games.
“He allows me to have Luis [Torrens] as a pinch hitter in the middle innings [or] early in games if there’s a high-leverage at-bat there and still have that third catcher,” Mendoza said of the call-up. “If I want to give [Francisco Alvarez] a DH day and get Luis in there, just having that third guy for the next three days here just makes sense.”
Senga still in rotation
The Mets have yet to determine whether Kodai Senga, who has given up 14 runs (13 earned) in his last two starts, will make his next start, but as of now, he’s still in the rotation.
“Right now, we’re just going through film, talking to him, whether it’s execution, pitch usage,” Mendoza said. “We’ve just got to help him.”
After his start Friday, Senga said he felt healthy and said he was “not that far off . . . ”
“These past two [starts], I’ve just not [been] able to get ahead, trying to get a strike,” he said through an interpreter. “I’m not delivering as powerfully as I would like to or usually do . . .
“I’m completely healthy and feel great. Mechanics, sure there are some minor things here and there, but that happens to everybody. Putting that aside, I just need to go out there and perform.”
Laura Albanese is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. She's been covering MLB since 2014 after starting at Newsday as an intern seven years earlier.
