Perhaps the Mets’ outfield isn’t quite so crowded after all. After all the hand-wringing about what will become of Angel Pagan when Carlos Beltran returns, he left last night’s 5-0 win over Detroit with spasms on his right side.
“He had muscle spasms on the right side. [We] thought it’d be best to take him out, probably give him off [tonight] to regroup,” Jerry Manuel said. “I’m sure it’s just a one day thing. We’re very optimistic.”
Both Pagan and Manuel claim it was purely precautionary. He won’t go on the disabled list and should be back tomorrow or the day after. Considering how hot he’s been — hitting .333 since May 5 to raise his average to .302 — the Mets hope so.
“I’m just learning from past injuries. I’ve gone through pains before, and it gets worse only,” said Pagan, who’s been on the DL in all four of his previous big league seasons. “It’s something I’ve learned: You’ve got to be smart, and in this situation I’m trying to be smart. I’ll get a couple of days off and see how I feel. It’s not a DL stop, believe me.”
Pagan felt the tightness before the game and used a heating pad to loosen up. But he winced after fouling off a pitch in the fifth and left for a pinch-hitter in the seventh.
“I just didn’t want to let it get worse,” Pagan said. “You’ve got to be smart. We’re playing too good for me to keep playing and maybe lose a couple of months. That’d be bad for me. I don’t want to go through that again, so I just told Skip, ‘Hey, I’m not feeling too good, take me out of the game.’ That’s it, nothing bad.”
He’s been a big reason the Mets are playing so well. Since Manuel installed Jose Reyes and Pagan as the 1-2 hitters, they’ve combined for 23 runs, and the Mets are 13-4.
“He’s been everything we’ve asked for, so it’s not easy to see that” Reyes said. “Hopefully he feels better.”