NEW YORK _ The Mets won in dramatic fashion Wednesday night but they also suffered another big body blow.
Neil Walker will not play again this season. Manager Terry Collins said the second baseman, one of the team's most consistent run-producers, is opting to have back surgery to repair the herniated disc that kept him out of the lineup the past four games.
Walker made this decision after he was evaluated by a specialist Wednesday afternoon.
He was sent to the doctor because the club was concerned that trying to play would risk further injury. The hope was that he could avoid season-ending surgery and continue a season in which he hit .282 with 23 home runs and 55 RBIs.
"We're certainly very disappointed that it comes to this," Collins said. "He's had a tremendous year for us. But certainly he makes the decision and it's in his best interests."
Walker's disc issue is causing weakness down one of his legs and numbness in his foot. Collins said before the game that the numbness was the reason Walker wasn't able to play and that until they had the opinion of the specialist "we're hesitant to put him out there."
Walker was one of the Mets' hottest hitters before this disc flare-up. In his last 23 games, he hit .440 with seven home runs, 15 RBIs and 19 runs scored.
Second base could be manned by a variety of people for the rest of the season, including Jose Reyes, Kelly Johnson and Wilmer Flores.
Walker joins a long list of key Mets who have been lost for the season. David Wright (back) and Matt Harvey (thoracic outlet syndrome) required surgery that ended their campaigns. Lucas Duda's season was ended by a stress fracture in his back. Zack Wheeler was supposed to return from Tommy John surgery but had setbacks in his recovery.
This is not a new condition for Walker, who had the same symptoms when he played for the Pirates. They also bothered him earlier this season.
"It's been off and on all year. As Neil puts it, he has gritted it out, the discomfort level," Collins said. "Sometimes it goes up. When it goes back down, he needs rest until the strength comes back up again."
Collins said that after a recent game, Walker told him he was glad that it ended in nine innings because he wasn't sure whether he would have been able to play longer than that.
Walker will be a free agent at the end of the season, and earlier this year it sounded as if the Mets were considering offering him a contract extension. General manager Sandy Alderson said he planned to reach out to his representatives.
How this condition affects the Mets' position on Walker being part of their future remains to be seen.
