Mets’ Pete Alonso was unavailable Wednesday due to hand soreness

The Mets provided Pete Alonso with a day off Wednesday. However, it wasn’t revealed until after the loss why that was the case.

When the Mets released the lineup prior to Wednesday night’s loss to the Atlanta Braves, Pete Alonso‘s absence was glaring. The star first baseman hadn’t missed a game the entire season but the hope was that the team was just giving him rest ahead of Thursday’s scheduled day off.

However, there’s potentially unfortunate news.

Manager Luis Rojas noted after Wednesday’s game that Alonso actually wasn’t available due to left hand soreness. The hope is that it’s not serious — the Mets have been ridden with injuries and went with a Bench Mob-filled lineup in the series finale against Atlanta (Alonso, Jeff McNeil, J.D. Davis, Brandon Nimmo, and Michael Conforto were all unavailable).

Luis Rojas said Pete Alonso was not available tonight to pinch-hit

"Right now he's got a little bit of soreness in his left hand"

X-Rays were negative after he was hit by a pitch in St. Louis pic.twitter.com/2ReFGWJt2d

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 20, 2021

“Pete was not available, and I know we were talking pregame and I didn’t reveal that…to reveal that Pete is not available, to me, it’s a competitive disadvantage when you say that,” Rojas said. “Right now, he’s got a little bit of soreness in his left wrist and hand, and we agreed on giving him a day off [Wednesday], which will connect with the day off [Thursday], and then reassess Friday to see how he feels.

“He had an x-ray done and everything was negative — we believe it was from when he got hit in St. Louis a couple of weeks back. Everything was checked, we passed it, and he kept on playing…but [Tuesday] he felt a little bit of [soreness], and not having the start with the day off connected, we felt that it was going to put him probably in a good spot for Friday so he can play — so we’ll reassess again.”

In the absence of Alonso, the Mets fielded Dom Smith at first base. Smith went 1-for-4 with a run scored in what was a 5-4 loss — Braves right fielder Ronald Acuna Jr. hit a walk-off solo home run in the bottom of the ninth inning off Mets reliever Jacob Barnes.

The Mets saw production from third baseman Jonathan Villar (1-for-4 with a solo home run) and the red-hot Tomas Nido, who drove in two runs on a pinch-hit single to take the lead in the top of the seventh inning.

New York will not play Thursday (as was previously mentioned) and will continue its nine-game road trip with a three-game series in Miami from Friday-Sunday.