The New York Mets have had to navigate several pitching injuries early in the year. Frankie Montas has made a single start, Sean Manaea is yet to pitch in 2025, Kodai Senga strained his hamstring, and Tylor Megill is dealing with a sprained elbow. Their top three lefty relievers are sidelined, as is success story Max Kranick.
On Thursday against the Atlanta Braves, that injury luck grew even worse. Starting pitcher Griffin Canning left the contest with a non-contact injury in the top of the third inning, giving the Citi Field crowd pause as he was helped to the dugout.
Canning’s season could be in jeopardy
With one out and nobody on base, Braves shortstop Nick Allen hit a routine ground ball to shortstop Francisco Lindor. Canning pushed off toward the left side of the infield after his follow-through. His lower leg seemed to buckle, and he went down in a heap.
It isn’t immediately clear what Canning’s injury is, but his teammates’ reactions provide a grim outlook. Catcher Luis Torrens quickly motioned for the trainer’s attention. After recording the out, Lindor hurried over with the rest of the infield to support him.
Mets pitcher Griffin Canning exits after suffering a non-contact leg injury.
Ron Darling: “Calf or Achilles… You don’t see baseball players go down like that very often… My mind might have been just biased from watching the NBA Finals and watching Haliburton… Apologies.” pic.twitter.com/n6rE0Qg87h
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 27, 2025
Canning spent about two minutes on the ground before being helped to the dugout by the medical staff. New York announced that he would undergo imaging for a left ankle injury. Austin Warren, a recently-recalled right-handed reliever, replaced him.
Adding to Canning’s misfortune was his performance before the injury. A replacement-level pitcher for the first five years of his career, he posted a 5.19 ERA and 6.82 K/9 in 2024 with the Los Angeles Angels.
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He found success with the Mets, taking advantage of one of the league’s most forward-thinking pitch-development staffs. After his 2.2 innings on Thursday, his ERA, FIP, and xFIP were all below 4.00. Canning has never finished a season with those marks.
Through his first half-season in Flushing, Canning reinvented himself by throwing fewer fastballs and featuring his slider instead. The adjustment improved his ability to generate both strikeouts and ground balls.
New York may not know how long Canning will be out, but as it prepares for the worst, it will first look to internal options. Manaea has one rehab start left before making his season debut. They have upper-minors depth in the form of Blade Tidwell, Jonathan Pintaro, and Justin Hagenman, each of whom has already pitched in the bigs this season.
The Mets could also turn to high-level pitching prospects in Nolan McLean or Jonah Tong, although Manaea’s return makes that less likely. A season-ending injury would be the worst-case scenario for Canning and add pressure for New York to explore reinforcements on the trade block. Until that’s confirmed, the Mets will hope for the best and prepare to fill his shoes without a major move.
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