The New York Mets are an absolute mess, and the whole world can see it. Injuries to Juan Soto, Jorge Polanco, Clay Holmes, and Luis Robert Jr. are just one of the reasons they are falling apart this season. Then there’s their starting rotation, which has turned in poor performances and further added to their troubles. And now, just one day after welcoming Francisco Lindor back, they’ve lost another $175 million shortstop.

“Marcus Semien to be placed on 10-day IL, per @chelsea_janes,” Underdog MLB wrote on X.

Semien was placed on the 10-day IL with a left hip flexor strain. The Mets now expect him to be week-to-week, with rest and treatment becoming the focus before his return. 

“This is something he has been battling for weeks now,” manager Carlos Mendoza said before Thursday’s series finale. “It goes to show you this guy is as tough as it comes. He continues to put the team first; he sacrificed a lot.”  

Mendoza revealed that treatment initially kept the injury under control, but the pain became much harder to manage in the last 10 days. That forced the Mets to take a closer look after the doubleheader against the Cubs. 

The warning signs became impossible to ignore during the second game of that doubleheader.  

Semien first felt a sharp pain in his opening at-bat before struggling to move around the field freely.  

“In that last game … you could tell,” Mendoza said. “When he was going after the pop fly balls, he got there, but you could tell. The ball to his left, and then there was a take where he pointed [at his hip], and I was like, ‘Something’s obviously not right.'”  

The Mets immediately ordered an MRI, which confirmed the strain. 

This now justifies why, in recent games, Semien has been that bad defensively. He had 2 errors during the loss to the Cubs, as the Mets finished with 6 errors.  

New York threw away a winnable game, and Semien’s limited movement played a major part in how the defense fell apart in later innings. After placing him on the IL, the Mets recalled Ronny Mauricio from Triple-A Syracuse. 

Looking back, this break may have come at the right time for him. Before going on the IL, the infielder had an average of .214 with 9 home runs and 29 RBIs in 80 games.  

Baseball Savant also shows exit velocity and hard-hit rate (worst since the COVID year), both sitting at a career low. His chase rate has climbed from 23% in 2025 to 29% in 2026. This shows the drop in the quality of his at-bats. 

The struggles have not stopped with the bat, as Semien’s defense has also slipped throughout 2026. He entered Thursday with a -3 OAA after committing 6 errors in the season.  

Those numbers fall well below the standards expected from a two-time Gold Glove winner who came to New York to improve their defense. While nobody wanted this injury, the break could help Semien reset while giving the Mets a chance to try something different. 

The Mets could try something at the trade deadline with Marcus Semien

Things keep going from bad to worse for this Mets team in the 2026 season. They now hold a 34-46 record and sit at the bottom of the NL East. And after losing 7 of the last 10 games, it has pushed them toward trade deadline talks instead of playoff plans. 

Buster Olney floated a bold idea involving Willy Adames and Marcus Semien in a swap deal.  

The Mets would land Adames while sending Semien to the Giants in the proposed deal. The discussion also included Bo Bichette shifting to second base in that setup. 

Adames brings long-term contract value, but is also not having a good time with the Giants. He is hitting .225 with 14 homers and 32 RBIs, and the Mets will take that any day over the mess that Semien is currently in. 

If the move happens, the Mets’ infield would shift with Adames at third base. Bichette would slide into second and stabilize the middle infield balance. This will also give the Mets a long-term plan with Adames in the infield. 

The Giants would consider the deal mainly to reduce financial pressure from Adames’ contract. They would take Semien as a return piece while gaining salary flexibility in the process.  

This is a win-win for both teams. The Giants are looking for defensive flexibility, and the Mets are looking for a strong infielder. But the question is, are the Giants really willing to take Semien with the season he is having and the latest IL placement?