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MLB notebook: Mets OF Lagares (toe) feared out for season

[May 19, 2018] New York Mets outfielder Juan Lagares will have surgery on his left big toe and likely miss the rest of the season, the team announced Friday.

Lagares suffered the injury Wednesday night when crashing into the outfield wall while chasing a fly ball hit by Toronto's Gio Urshela in the ninth inning. The injury was originally diagnosed as a hyperextended big toe, but an MRI exam revealed a complete tear of the plantar plate, a supporting ligament in the toe.

Lagares, who was placed on the 10-day disabled list retroactive to Thursday, is scheduled to undergo surgery next week.

The 29-year-old is batting .339 in 30 games this season and was expected to take on a larger role with fellow outfielder Yoenis Cespedes going on the 10-day disabled list Wednesday with a mild strain of his right hip flexor.

--The Pittsburgh Pirates placed center fielder Starling Marte on the 10-day disabled list, one day after calling up one of their top prospects.

The Pirates announced Thursday that outfielder Austin Meadows was recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis and would join the team before their game against the San Diego Padres, but they did not announce a corresponding move at the time. Marte's DL stint is retroactive to May 16.

Marte left Tuesday's game, a 7-0 win over the Chicago White Sox, after he experienced right side discomfort in the first inning. The 29-year-old is off to a strong start this season, batting .308 with six home runs, 10 steals, 19 RBIs and 30 runs scored.

--The Arizona Diamondbacks will select the contract of right-hander Clay Buchholz, who is expected to make his return to the majors in a start against the New York Mets on Sunday.

Buchholz was released by the Royals on May 1 and caught on with the D-backs several days later. In five minor league starts this year, he has a 2.93 ERA.

Buchholz, 33, had surgery on his right forearm last season that cost him nearly the entire year. He made two starts for the Philadelphia Phillies, whom he joined via trade from the Boston Red Sox, allowing 10 runs on 16 hits in 7 1/3 innings (12.27 ERA).

--Shortstop Paul DeJong was placed on the 10-day disabled list with a fractured left hand one day after the St. Louis Cardinals' co-leader in home runs was hit by a pitch.

DeJong will undergo surgery on his hand and is expected to miss significant time. He was the only player on the roster to appear in all 41 Cardinals' games this season. He is batting .260 with eight home runs and 19 RBIs this season and has a team-high 71 total bases.

St. Louis right-hander Matt Bowman was also placed on the disabled list with blisters on his right index and middle fingers. To fill the roster spots, the Cardinals recalled infielder Yairo Munoz and outfielder Tyler O'Neill from Triple-A Memphis. Bowman's transaction is retroactive to May 17.

--The Chicago Cubs activated outfielder Jason Heyward from the 7-day concussion disabled list and optioned left-hander Randy Rosario to Triple-A Iowa in a corresponding move.

Heyward has been sidelined since sustaining a concussion upon hitting his head against the wall while trying to catch Dexter Fowler's walk-off home run in the 14th inning of a May 6 game in St. Louis. The 28-year-old told reporters the experience opened his eyes to the danger of head injuries.

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"It made a believer out of me," Heyward said. "Not that I wasn't a believer before. You feel for anyone that goes through it. That stuff is scary. You don't feel like yourself, and you don't see anything wrong with you physically, but there is something that's not right."

--The Milwaukee Brewers gave Ji-Man Choi an early birthday present -- a return to the big league club.

Choi, who turns 27 on Saturday, was recalled from Triple-A Colorado Springs. He was in the lineup, batting sixth and serving as the designated hitter, on the road against the Minnesota Twins.

The Brewers placed outfielder/first baseman Ryan Braun on the 10-day disabled list Thursday, retroactive to May 14, with middle back tightness. Choi joined the Brewers in the offseason and made the big league club, albeit for one game, out of spring training.

--Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash is planning to give veteran reliever Sergio Romo his first career start Saturday night against the Los Angeles Angels, but then pull him after only one or two innings.

The originally scheduled starter, rookie left-hander Ryan Yarbrough, will then come in and take over the game. Romo has 588 regular-season appearances in his 11-year career, all from the bullpen.

"The way that their lineup stacks, generally speaking, is very heavy right-handed at the top," Cash told the Tampa Bay Times. "It allows us in theory to let Sergio to come in there and play the matchup game in the first, which is somewhat unheard of -- up until Saturday anyway."

--Third baseman Chase Headley is a free agent after being released by the San Diego Padres.

Headley, traded from the New York Yankees to the Padres in a reverse of the original deal between the teams, had a .115 batting average this season.

The Padres designated Headley for assignment last week and recalled infielder Cory Spangenberg in a corresponding move, starting the clock on the seven-day window to trade or release Headley.

--Baltimore Orioles center fielder Adam Jones recently won an auction to purchase the former home of Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr., according to The Athletic.

The 8,545-square-foot Reisterstown, Md., home on 25 acres was valued at $12.5 million in 2016, but the price dropped below $10 million last year.

The amount of Jones' winning bid was not announced, but The Athletic reported it was "a fraction" of the original listing price. Daniel DeCaro of DeCaro Auctions told mansionglobal.com that the price was the highest paid in Baltimore County this year, which would put it over $2,825,000. The sale is due to be finalized June 11.

--Field Level Media

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