NEW YORK - The 2022 season has been far from perfect for Mets catcher James McCann, who has endured two prolonged stints on the injured list, mixed with another tough campaign at the plate.First, it was mid-May hand surgery to repair a broken hamate bone that cost him six weeks [url=https://www.nymteamstore.com/Brett_Baty_Jersey]https://www.nymteamstore.com/Brett_Baty_Jersey[/url], before an oblique strain suffered nine games after returning from his procedure, which knocked him out for another month.Overall, the injury bug has limited McCann to just 45 games this season.When he has been healthy, the backstop has hit an anemic .189 with a .515 OPS in 127 at-bats.However, in his last 23 plate appearances, McCann is hitting the ball noticeably harder with a 97.02 mph average exit velocity on balls put in play, per Baseball Savant.There could be a reason for this.As frustrating as the oblique injury was for McCann, it may have actually benefited him because it allowed his surgically repaired hand to receive an extended period of healing.Definitely, McCann told Inside the Mets during the week, of his last stint on the IL helping his hand heal more.Even in batting practice, the way the ball was jumping off my bat was different [url=https://www.nymteamstore.com/Connor_Grey_Jersey]https://www.nymteamstore.com/Connor_Grey_Jersey[/url]. We didnt realize how much weaker my hand before .In Thursday 5-3 win over the Dodgers, McCann helped spark an important two-out rally in the seventh inning with a double. The catcher came to the plate 0-for-2 with two line outs of 106.1 mph and 98.2 mph, but he smoked an extra-base hitthat went all the way to the wall. McCann later scored a crucial insurance run when the Dodgers misplayed Brandon Nimmo shallow fly out.McCann tenure as a Met has been extremely disappointing, mixed with injuries and lack of production offensively, since the start of 2021.McCann signed a four-year, $40 million deal with the Mets prior to the 21 season, but hasnt played close to the level he was on with the Chicago White Sox, in which he was an All-Star in 2019.Now that he is healthy, he has been able to eliminate some of the bad habits he developed. This has allowed him to make necessary adjustments that allow him to focus on the things that saw him have success with the White Sox from 2019-2020.
Latest posts made by Newman
-
New York Mets Catcher James McCann's Silver Lining in Injury Riddled Season
-
Patino Gets Lit Up Early, Yankees Rout Rays 10-4 to Increase AL East Lead
Tampa Bay has been waiting patiently on 22-year-old Luis Patino to give them some length to the rotation down the stretch, but the experiment failed miserably again on Sunday when he got rocked by the New York Yankees in a 10-4 loss.Patino gave up nine runsall very much earnedand lasted just 1 1/3 innings. He threw 70 pitchesand only got four outs. He was wild, walking four batters, and he paid dearly for every one of them. All four scored on home runs. The Yankees tagged him for three long ballsfrom Gleyber Torres in the first, and Giancarlo Stanton and Oswaldo Cabrera in the secondin his shortest start of the year since coming back from an oblique injury in mid-July.His ERA nearly doubled in one day, going from 4.34 to 8.10 on Sunday. It was his fifth start since coming off the injured list https://www.newyorkfanoutlet.com/Rob_Brantly_Jersey , and it was clearly his worst. He really had only only one good start this year, pitching 5 2/3 scoreless innings against Kansas City on Aug. 18.The loss dropped the Rays to 78-60 on the season, and they are now 5 1/2 games behind the Yankees in the American League East Race with 24 games to go. It was the second-straight blowout loss to the Yanks, and the Rays finished 8-11 in the season series.The Rays remain in the top spot in the wild-card race, but it couldnt be any tighter https://www.newyorkfanoutlet.com/Chris_Carter_Jersey . They lead the Seattle Mariners by percentage points, and the Toronto Blue Jays by a half-game. The team on the outside looking inthe Baltimore Oriolesalso lost on Sunday, so the Rays are still six games clear of them, and hold the season series tiebreaker.