Sprained Knee Ligaments Put Piazza on the Sideline

Before the Mets have even played a game in New York, they have temporarily lost the Met that New York most wants to see. Mike Piazza will sit out the home opener Monday, and probably the next two to three weeks because of a sprained right knee.

That actually was considered “pretty good news” by General Manager Steve Phillips, who feared Piazza had suffered a season-ending torn knee ligament.

Piazza showed up at Montreal’s Olympic Stadium on Saturday morning expecting to play against the Expos. But he complained about soreness and stiffness in the knee, which was injured when he was caught in a rundown Friday night. The Mets noticed swelling and put him on a flight to New York, where he underwent an MRI.

The early diagnosis was a mild sprain of his medial collateral ligament and posterior cruciate ligament. “It is more of a stretching than it is a tear,” Phillips said. Team physician David Altchek will examine the catcher today to see if there is more extensive damage.

“But the initial diagnosis is a positive one for us,” Phillips said. “It could take two or three weeks for it to settle down to where he can play again. He might need a small brace so he can play with it. But at this time, there does not appear to be anything that needs surgical intervention. There does not appear to be any ligament damage. So it’s pretty good news considering what the other possibilities could be.”

Piazza was unavailable for comment Saturday night.

“I figure it’s only a couple-days thing. I don’t think the injury is that bad,” said Todd Pratt, Piazza’s replacement, after Saturday’s 4-3, 11-inning victory over Montreal. “We talked this morning, and his knee was a little stiff. If he would have torn it, he would have noticed it last night when he was still playing.

“We need him back as soon as possible, and it’s my job to fill in until then.”

As pitcher John Franco said after the game, before anyone knew the diagnosis: “Hopefully, he won’t be out too long. We just have to wait and see, like expectant fathers.”

Piazza, in the first year of a seven-year, $91-million contract, is batting .429 with two home runs and eight runs batted in.