Mets' Carlos Mendoza Makes Admission About Jorge Polanco's Achilles Injury

Several of the New York Mets' biggest acquisitions haven't had the start to the 2026 MLB season that they, the franchise, or the fan base were hoping for.

Star infielder Bo Bichette has a .071 average, a .138 OPS, and 8 strikeouts through 14 at-bats to this point in the season. Bichette's struggles reached a point where he was booed after striking out in the Mets' March 29 game against the Minnesota Twins.

While Jorge Polanco's stats haven't been as tough as those of Bichette, his .100 average leaves something to be desired. He does have a .400 On-Base Percentage, though, which means that he's at least getting on base. But there's still plenty of time for every player to figure things out, as everybody is prone to overreact to the first weekend because it's the first weekend.

If Bichette had a .071 average during a three-game stretch in August, nobody would be batting an eye. But it isn't just Polanco's stats that have raised concern on March 30.

New York Mets second baseman Jorge Polanco | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Carlos Mendoza's Message About Jorge Polanco's Injury Raises Eyebrows

Polanco had been seeing time at first base to start the season, which is a new position for him this season. However, when Monday's starting lineup against the St. Louis Cardinals was revealed, it showed that Polanco was playing the DH spot.

This wasn't concerning, given that Polanco will likely see a good deal of time at DH this season. However, the reason that Mets manager Carlos Mendoza gave when asked why Polanco is playing DH when speaking to the media pregame is not ideal.

"His Achilles kind of flared up after the second game. That's why he DH'ed yesterday," Mendoza said, per an X post from SNY.

He then added, "We're not concerned, [proven by that] he's playing. But I kind of want to limit his exposure on the field. So we've just got to treat it here, and just be careful with him, especially this early."

Carlos Mendoza says that Jorge Polanco's Achilles flared up after the second game against the Pirates, which is why he is DHing again today pic.twitter.com/uFqgmeYXgU
— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) March 30, 2026

As Mendoza alluded to, the fact that Polanco is still hitting on Monday shows that the injury likely isn't overly serious. However, an Achilles issue this early in the season (as well as at any other time) is never something a player wants to be dealing with, and should be treated with the utmost caution until the flare-up dies down.

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