Mets prospect Drew Gilbert suffered a very painful-looking hit-by-pitch Wednesday.
Gilbert, a 23-year-old outfielder at Triple-A Syracuse, successfully checked his swing on an errant curveball ball but was struck in what appeared to be his groin/mid-section area.
He immediately writhed on the ground in pain after being hit by the pitch from Rochester’s Austin Ward with two men on and two out in the first inning of a scoreless game.
Gilbert was down for about three minutes and tried to stay in the game against the Nationals’ Triple-A affiliate, but was ultimately pulled for pinch runner Carlos Cortes.
Gilbert entered Wednesday batting .216 with one home run and a .601 OPS in 85 plate appearances across 20 games with Syracuse.
Gilbert, one of the pieces acquired from the Astros in the Justin Verlander trade, ranks 82nd in MLB.com’s latest top-100 prospects listing.
That ranking marked the third-best standing among Mets prospects, trailing No. 40 Brandon Sproat and No. 57 Jett Williams.
