Mets receive major boost as star first baseman Pete Alonso makes an early return from injured list

New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso has made an early return from the injured list. 

The Mets reinstated Alonso from the 10-day injured list on Sunday with the 28-year-old returning to the lineup for the game against the Cardinals. 

Alonso has been out since sustaining a bone bruise and a sprain of his left wrist after being hit by a fastball from Atlanta Braves right-hander Charlie Morton on June 7.

The Mets placed Alonso on the injured list last Friday June 9, retroactive to June 8, and it was initially expected that he could miss three to four weeks. 

‘Right around the fifth or sixth day, I was able to walk around freely and without any pain,’ Alonso said, via The New York Post. ‘If I’m at 100 percent, why wait?’ 

Alonso was hit in the wrist by a 96 mph fastball from Charlie Morton during a loss to Atlanta

To make room for Alonso, the Mets optioned infielder Mark Vientos to Triple-A Syracuse on Sunday.

Vientos, 23, is batting .178 with one homer and five RBIs in 16 games this season with New York. 

Alonso had traveled back to New York last weeks and X-rays revealed no broken bones.

‘We always hoped that it would be quick,’ manager Buck Showalter said. ‘A couple days ago we knew it might be a possibility, but if you say Sunday and then it’s Monday or Tuesday then it’s a setback. We’re lucky so far. We’ll see how [Sunday] goes.’ 

Ultimately, the Mets only missed one of the premier power hitters in the game for ten days. 

But they went went 3-5 without Alonso and slipped to 11.5 games behind the National League East-leading Braves as they tried to work their way back into contention. 

New York manager Buck Showalter (right) claimed the Mets had been lucky with the recovery

During his absence, Shohei Ohtani overtook Alonso for the MLB lead in home runs but the Mets star still holds the lead in the NL ahead of Jorge Soler and Matt Olson. 

Alonos trained at the ballpark during the team’s two off days last week and was in the batting cage ahead of Saturday’s game. 

‘I didn’t have any residual swelling after I did pretty heavy workloads,’ Alonso said. ‘I felt good consistently and I’m happy we’re in a spot where I can play. There was a big question mark the day I got hit and then especially when I needed to go get additional imaging, but the biggest point in this is my body responded well to the treatment.’

He added: ‘I didn’t want to necessarily to push anything to the point where I’m harming myself,’ Alonso said, ‘but if my body kept progressing in a positive way then I wanted to keep hitting those benchmarks as quickly as I could so I could get back as quickly as I could. I take pride in being out there and playing as many games as possible.’