The New York Mets’ Thursday night ended with prayers for teammate Jared Young after a first-base miscommunication almost turned catastrophic for the team.
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Everyone was on edge after the 31-year-old first baseman fell face-down on the dirt following a scary infield collision during their 3-0 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies at Citi Field.
At the top of the sixth, Phillies outfielder Justin Crawford sent Nolan McLean’s cutter down the first-base line. With two outs and the Phillies leading 1-0, McLean and Young tried to field the slow grounder at the same time. However, the two Mets collided, and Young took a knee to the side of his head.
Mets interim manager Andy Green and the trainers rushed onto the field as Young lay face down on the dirt for more than a minute, at least. The trainers checked on him, rolled him over, wiping the mud off his face, and trying to talk to him. They stabilized his neck.
While the whole ballpark was concerned, even the Phillies dugout looked scared.
The Mets surrounded their teammate. Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez appeared to be praying, while Philadelphia’s Alec Bohm was down on one knee next to third base.
McLean was understandably shaken and looked visibly disturbed and concerned. He bent down, resting his hands on his knees while Francisco Lindor seemed to be comforting him.
“It was scary to sit there and just know that he wasn’t with us in that moment,” Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor said. “He was just somewhere else.”
Of course, the incident was not intentional. Even when out of the playoffs, the team tried to win to at least disrupt their division rival’s postseason hopes.
Coming back to the incident, the EMTs arrived eventually and carted Young off the field. Young also flashed a thumbs-up while being stretchered off. He was placed in a neck brace and immobilized. Jomboy Media posted the scary turn of events on X.
The incident appeared to stem from a brief moment of miscommunication between McLean and Young.
The pitcher ran first to cover the play, and Young moved back toward the bag. McLean hesitated briefly, prompting Young to reach for the ball while keeping his foot on first base. But then, McLean resumed running again, and everything went downhill.
The pitcher lost his balance, tripped over Young, and kneed him on the head while Crawford reached base safely. By the time McLean collected his bearings, Young was lying motionless on the ground.
Players are familiar with injuries and on-field collisions, but it is always scary to witness one. However, the Mets already have an update on their injured player.
According to manager Andy Green, Young asked, “What happened?” when he regained consciousness after the collision.
He was suffering from concussion symptoms, and so, the Mets sent him to the hospital for a CT scan.
“He’s had a CT scan. Results have come back negative,” Green told SportsNet. “So in that sense, it’s very positive. Still experiencing real concussion symptoms right now, but has full use of his extremities and feels at this point in time like we’ve avoided the scariest outcomes.”
Similar injuries have happened before
Back in 2016, the St. Louis Cardinals’ infielders Dean Anna and Aledmys Diaz experienced a similar incident. Anna and Diaz both went for the same ground ball and collided during a game against the Mets. But neither of them was injured.
An unlikely collision happened in early June this season, too.
Dodgers veteran Max Muncy and D-backs infielder Ildemaro Vargas went sprawling after they collided violently while running toward first base at the same time.
Muncy had hit a grounder to first, and Vargas fielded the ball. Seeing pitcher Ryne Nelson not covering the bag, Vargas took off for first, hoping to beat Muncy.
Neither did he beat Muncy, nor could he stop. Instead, he collided at full speed with the Dodgers’ hitter. They were sore but otherwise okay after the collision.
“It was terrible,” Diamondbacks’ Ketel Marte reportedly said, describing the June incident. “In my 10 years, I’ve never seen a collision like that.”
As for the New York Mets, Mark Vientos replaced Young at first once play resumed.
McLean exchanged some words with manager Andy and threw four more pitches to record the final out of the inning. He was replaced by Tobias Myers in the next frame.
McLean had kept the Phillies scoreless until Bryce Harper drove in a single in the top of the fifth. Harper also helped the Phillies load the bases with his two-out single, but McLean retired Garrett Stubbs to end the inning.
“Probably should have made a better decision, not even letting him get the next hitter, but he was still strong enough to do it and got back out there and did it,” Green said. “I think the humanity hit him pretty hard right there.”
As for Young, the Mets will most likely place him on the IL, and we hope Young recovers quickly.
Jared Young is playing his first full big-league season this year. Before 2026, Young had limited experience in the majors.
He stepped in as the Mets’ everyday first baseman, replacing Jorge Polanco and Mark Vientos. He is hitting .266 with 9 home runs and 39 RBIs in 103 games. A meniscus injury had earlier forced Young to miss six weeks, but this collision effectively ended his season.
The Mets have only nine games left in the regular season.