Injuries have taken a toll on the New York Mets’ roster this season, and that has created opportunities for a lot of young players. Prior to Michael Conforto’s dislocated shoulder last Thursday, the Mets featured a roster with the first four top draft choices from the Sandy Alderson era: Brandon Nimmo, Gavin Cecchini, Dominic Smith, and Conforto. The next player to fit that profile is outfielder Desmond Lindsay, who was the Mets’ top pick in the 2015 draft. Lindsay was described as an offensive machine when he was drafted, but he fell to the second round due to injury concerns. That has held true for Lindsay’s career so far, which is the focus of this week’s edition of Minor League Mondays.
After a strong season in 2017, where Lindsay hit .303 across two levels in just 37 games, the Mets advanced him to full season ball in Low-A Columbia this season. Lindsay got off to a slow start, hitting only .150 with three homers and 14 RBI’s through the end of May, but turned it on after that. Over his next 87 at bats, Lindsay batted .321 with five doubles, five home runs, and 16 RBI’s to raise his batting average all the way to .220. Unfortunately for the Mets, that would be all Lindsay would do this season as he underwent season ending elbow surgery in July. Lindsay needed to have the ulnar nerve in his elbow repaired, ending his promising season just as it was starting to improve.
This latest surgery is a new hurdle for Lindsay, who has continued to battle injury issues since he became a pro. Lindsay has demonstrated the potential to be a hitting machine in his early career, but the biggest problem for him has simply been staying on the field. The Mets will likely start Lindsay at Columbia again next season, assuming the injury doesn’t recur, to give him a chance to build off of his strong finish to 2017. If all goes well Lindsay would likely progress to High-A St. Lucie next summer, putting him on target to make the major leagues in about three years.
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