Tyrone Taylor has played the past two weeks with what teammate Brandon Nimmo described Thursday as a “crater” in his right hand.
The cut, which Taylor said happened sliding into a base, was on the verge of healed, he said, until the sixth inning Thursday.
Taylor will take the trade-off.
It meant a highlight-reel grab on Luis García Jr.’s shot to right-center that loomed even larger after the Nationals scored three runs in the ninth inning in the Mets’ 4-3 victory at Citi Field.
“I knew the wind was blowing from right to left, so I thought I had a good chance at it for sure,” said Taylor, who extended fully airborne and belly flopped on the warning track for the catch.
It was just the latest superb defensive play the Mets have received from Taylor, a backup who has received the majority of starts in center field this season with Jose Siri on the injured list.
Taylor’s catch on García’s shot was for the third out and left a runner stranded at first base.
“As soon as the ball was hit, and looking at Taylor and [Juan] Soto and how far both of them were, I thought it was at least a double,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “And then as [Taylor] keeps closing the gap, and for him to make that spectacular play, diving like that, it’s not the first time we have seen that. It goes to show you, he’s elite out there.”
Taylor wasn’t about to call this latest catch his favorite play of the season.
“I love them all, man,” he said. “Anything I am doing to help the team win, it fires me up and I know it fires the guys up, too.”
Mendoza wouldn’t immediately commit to Paul Blackburn taking Kodai Senga’s next turn in the rotation.
But the manager dismissed the idea that Frankie Montas’ timeline will be affected by Senga’s strained right hamstring that will land him on the injured list.
Montas has at least one rehab start remaining for Triple-A Syracuse, but the team could give him another if he isn’t deemed ready. Montas is rehabbing a lat strain.
“We’re not going to rush [Montas] because of what happened today,” Mendoza said of the Senga situation.
The Mets have a day off Monday, giving Mendoza the option of pushing back the spot in the rotation that was occupied by Senga until next Friday in Philadelphia.
Soto reached base twice and stole second base.
Over his past 13 games he has produced a .386/.542/.818 slash line with five homers and 10 RBIs.
Soto is 8-for-8 on stolen base attempts this season.