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Mets Place Yoenis Cespedes On Disabled List

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6:30pm: The injury is to a different part of the hamstring than was previously impacted, manager Terry Collins told reporters including James Wagner of the Washington Post (Twitter link).

1:49pm: The Mets have announced the move to place Cespedes on the DL. Lefty Sean Gilmartin will join the team in his place.

1:37pm: The Mets will place outfielder Yoenis Cespedes on the disabled list this afternoon, reports Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports (Twitter link). There’s no word yet on the extent of the injury to Cespedes’ hamstring, but he was slated to undergo an MRI to evaluate the issue earlier today, and manager Terry Collins suggested yesterday that he expected Cespedes to hit the DL. Heyman adds that the Mets are considering calling up a pitcher from the minors as a corresponding move for Cespedes’ injury.

Cespedes missed several games over the past week with a hamstring issue, including the entirety of a pivotal series with the division-leading Nationals. The slugger returned to the lineup yesterday and went 1-for-2 with a double, but he appeared to aggravate his hamstring while running out that extra-base hit. Cespedes was helped off the field by the Mets’ training staff after hobbling into second base.

With Cespedes out earlier this week, the Mets kept Jay Bruce at first base and turned to an outfield alignment of Michael Conforto in left field, Juan Lagares in center and Curtis Granderson in right. That arrangement could well hold up now that Cespedes is once again sidelined, though Heyman notes in a second tweet that Lucas Duda is beginning a rehab assignment and could rejoin the team soon, which would allow the club to work Bruce back into the outfield mix if desired.

Cespedes Slated For MRI On Ailing Hamstring; Trip To DL Possible

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3:20pm: Cespedes will undergo another MRI on Friday to reevaluate his hamstring, tweets MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo. “There’s no indication for how long it will be,” manager Terry Collins told New York reporters (via DiComo). However, Collins’ assumption is that Cespedes will land on the disabled list, Carig tweets. Collins added that Cespedes could be “out a while,” tweets James Wagner of the New York Times.

1:47pm: Mets star Yoenis Cespedes has left today’s game with what is being called a left hamstring pull, as the SNY broadcast team reports (and Marc Carig of Newday tweets). He pulled up while running out a double.

As ever, we’ll need to await further word before reaching any conclusions as to how this might impact the team. But there’s added and more obvious concern here since Cespedes had already been dealing with a hamstring issue that kept him out for three games. Last year, Cespedes ended up missing a significant stretch due to a leg muscle injury, though in that case it was a quad problem.

It’s far too soon to know how significant the injury is, but clearly it’s a major concern for a Mets club that has had its fair share of issues in the early going. In addition to on-field struggles, the organization has been beset by a variety of worrying injury situations.

Several other players are also dealing with maladies, but two new concerns arose today. Before Cespedes went down, ace righty Noah Syndergaard was scratched with discomfort in his biceps. Fortunately, there’s no reason at present to fear that either issue will turn out to be something major. But there’s increasingly little margin for error in New York. Though it’s still early, the Mets will slip into the NL East basement if they can’t come back in today’s game against the Braves.

Noah Syndergaard Scratched With Biceps Discomfort

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The Mets have scratched star righty Noah Syndergaard from his scheduled start today, manager Terry Collins told reporters including MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo (Twitter links) and SNY’s Steve Gelbs (via Twitter). Syndergaard is dealing with discomfort in his right biceps, likely caused by tendinitis, leading to what Collins phrased a “tired arm.”

At this time, it’s not known whether this is more than a single-start blip, or whether there’s cause for greater concern. The Mets will surely take a cautious route regardless; as Collins put it, “we can’t take a chance on this guy.”

Matt Harvey will take the ball in Syndergaard’s place. This is the second time that Harvey has been moved up to cover for an injury. Fortunately, the last time, Jacob deGrom needed only a bit of extra rest. Harvey, deGrom, and Syndergaard have been excellent even as the club has staggered to an 8-12 record to open the year. Clearly, the Mets can scarcely afford to lose any of the three; though it’s plenty early, the club is already 6.5 games back of the Nationals in the NL East.

It’s certainly possible that Syndergaard could follow deGrom in making a swift return. Indeed, Syndergaard could be cleared to throw by this weekend, which seems to be his own expectation. (Twitter links via DiComo.) But the organization has ordered up an MRI to make sure there isn’t a more significant problem causing the discomfort.

More broadly, rotation depth continues to be a concern for the Mets, who received a dud of an outing last night from Robert Gsellman. He and Zack Wheeler haven’t produced quite the results hoped for, though their peripherals suggest cause for optimism moving forward. Of greater concern, the organization seemingly still doesn’t know when it’ll welcome back Steven Matz and Seth Lugo to the rotation mix.

NL East Notes: Glover, Marlins, Alfaro, Mets

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The Nationals announced today that right-hander Koda Glover has been placed on the 10-day disabled list due to an impingement in his right hip. As Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post writes, the move is somewhat precautionary. “We are going to need Koda for the long run because he’s never pitched a potential seven months of the season. So just trying to keep an eye on these things,” said manager Dusty Baker. “Cold weather probably didn’t help last night. He didn’t want to go on the DL. We think it’s best for him and what’s best for him is also what’s best for us.” Glover missed the final month of the 2016 season with a partially torn labrum in that same hip, Janes notes, and he elected to undergo physical therapy instead of offseason surgery. The 23-year-old righty is “extremely confident” that he’ll be ready to go in 10 days, Janes adds. Left-hander Matt Grace will take Glover’s spot in the bullpen for now.

More from the NL East…

  • Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports and Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports both penned columns this week on Derek Jeter being the correct person to revitalize — or, as Passan suggests, invigorate for the first time — the baseball community in southern Florida if their purchase of the Marlins goes through. Rosenthal writes that while the Jeter/Jeb Bush-led group may require the typically lengthy approval process, it seems unlikely that the league will stand in the way. Passan cites two sources in reporting that there are “plenty” of “money men” backing Jeter and Bush in their efforts to purchase the club. Both writers suggest that the allure of Jeter himself, a more dedicated plan to capitalizing on Miami’s proximity to Latin America, and the potential for increased payroll funding could bring in a new era of Marlins baseball. As Passan points out, whoever is brought in to oversee baseball operations will have multiple avenues to pursue; either try to build around the young core of Christian Yelich, Giancarlo Stanton, Dee Gordon, J.T. Realmuto and Marcell Ozuna or field interest in those controllable talents to bring in a flood of youth that can comprise the next competitive Marlins roster.
  • Top catching prospect Jorge Alfaro is off to a blistering start with the Phillies’ Triple-A affiliate, but as MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki writes, a promotion to the Majors is not in his immediate future. Zolecki explains that despite being just 23 years of age, Alfaro is in his final option year, meaning the Phillies won’t be able to shuttle him back and forth between the Majors and Triple-A next season if he struggles. As such, there’s every incentive to make sure that Alfaro is not rushed to the Majors. Alfaro still has work to do in terms of his K/BB numbers and his defense, though it’s hard to ignore the numbers he’s logged thus far. In a small sample of 63 plate appearances, Alfaro is hitting .377/.397/.607 with three homers, two triples and a double.
  • Injured Mets pitchers Steven Matz and Seth Lugo are both ready to begin throwing off a mound, tweets MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo. Both pitchers have been throwing from 120 feet and reported no discomfort following those sessions. Matz has been on the disabled list with an elbow injury, though there’s been some debate about the specific nature of the ailment. Lugo, meanwhile, was diagnosed with a partial tear in his ulnar collateral ligament, though to this point surgery seemingly isn’t being considered as an option.

Injury Notes: Cespedes, Price, Rangers, Britton, Pederson

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Yoenis Cespedes was out of the Mets’ lineup for the third straight game Sunday, leaving manager Terry Collins to acknowledge that the left fielder could head to the disabled list if his left hamstring issue doesn’t heal by Tuesday (via ESPN.com). “I think we’d need to take a look at that,” Collins said of a potential DL stint for Cespedes, who did tell the skipper he “felt a lot better” Sunday. Cespedes has mashed this season for the slow-starting Mets (.263/.377/.632 with six home runs in 69 plate appearances), but they’re nonetheless decently equipped to handle his short-term absence. Michael Conforto, Jay Bruce, Curtis Granderson and Juan Lagares give the Cespedes-less club a full complement of major league-caliber outfielders. (Update: Cespedes expects to return Tuesday, tweets Matt Ehalt of The Record.)

  • Red Sox left-hander David Price will throw a 45- to 50-pitch bullpen session Monday as he tries to work back from forearm trouble, per Ben Standing of MLB.com. Price still seems a ways off from making his 2017 debut, but a positive showing Monday would put him in position to face live hitters sometime soon. “Once we get through [Monday’s] work session and kind of begin to map out a little more of a structure on a calendar, I think we’re at that point [of facing batters],” said manager John Farrell. “Anytime you get to the number of pitches thrown that will be tomorrow, you can start to foresee a progression to hitters and ultimately to games, but we don’t have that in place right now.”
  • The Rangers continue to play it safe with third baseman Adrian Beltre in his recovery from a right calf strain, meaning he probably won’t debut until May, relays Brandon George of the Dallas Morning News. “I think we need to continue to rehab,” said manager Jeff Banister. “The conservative nature is probably in our best interest.” Meanwhile, after upper back spams slowed Tyson Ross’ comeback from thoracic outlet syndrome surgery, the expectation is that the right-hander will resume throwing from a mound by the end of the upcoming week, Banister told George.
  • Orioles closer Zach Britton will see a hand specialist Monday, after which he could resume throwing, writes Brittany Ghiroli of MLB.com. Britton went on the disabled list last Sunday with a forearm strain – a scary injury for a pitcher – but an MRI came back clean on Friday. The Orioles believe sending the ace reliever to a specialist will help prevent a forearm strain from rearing its head again in the future, Ghiroli notes.
  • Center fielder Joc Pederson left the Dodgers’ win over the Diamondbacks on Sunday with right groin tightness, and the likelihood is that he’ll miss some games, according to Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register. The Dodgers, already dealing with injuries to outfielders Andre Ethier and Franklin Gutierrez, will re-evaluate Pederson on Monday. A 25-plus-home run hitter in each of first two major league seasons, Pederson has gotten off to a sluggish start this year, with a .220/.322/.340 batting line and only one homer in 59 PAs.

NL Notes: D-backs, Mets, Phillies, Nats

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The Diamondbacks could be in for bad news regarding right-hander Shelby Miller, who, as Barry M. Bloom of MLB.com tweets, exited his start Sunday with forearm tightness. Arizona is scheduling an MRI for Miller, who lasted four-plus innings and allowed three earned runs in a loss to the Dodgers. Manager Torey Lovullo is trying to be optimistic, notes Bloom, but Steve Gilbert of MLB.com observes (on Twitter) that the situation is “not good.” Forearm tightness often portends Tommy John surgery, which would be the biggest setback yet in Miller’s rocky tenure with the Diamondbacks. The club’s previous regime drew seemingly endless criticism for sending a Dansby Swanson– and Ender Inciarte-led package to the Braves for Miller two winters ago. General manager Dave Stewart and senior vice president of baseball operations De Jon Watson lost their jobs last fall after Miller struggled through a 2016 to forget, pitching to a 6.15 ERA in 101 major league innings and enduring a demotion to the minor leagues. Thanks in part to improved velocity, though, Miller has fared respectably this year with a 4.09 ERA and 3.29 FIP in 22 frames.

More from the National League:

  • With an .095/.186/.127 batting line in 70 plate appearances, Mets infielder Jose Reyes has been among the majors’ worst players this year. Nevertheless, the Mets aren’t considering releasing the 33-year-old, according to Newsday’s Marc Carig, who casts doubt on the possibility of the team cutting him even if his performance doesn’t improve soon. Reyes makes a minimum salary and is a speedy switch-hitter who can play shortstop, all of which are facts that work in his favor, Carig writes. While the Mets have an elite shortstop prospect in Amed Rosario, who has slashed .355/.382/.353 in 55 PAs this season, a promotion for him isn’t imminent, sources told Carig. The Mets don’t want to rush either the 21-year-old Rosario or first base prospect Dominic Smith (also 21) to the majors.
  • Phillies left fielder Howie Kendrick’s previously reported abdominal strain is actually an oblique strain, one that’s likely to keep him out until “sometime in the early to mid part of May,” GM Matt Klentak informed Ryan Lawrence of PhillyVoice. With Kendrick unavailable for a while, Klentak acquired infielder/outfielder Ty Kelly from the Blue Jays on Saturday. It turns out the Klentak-led Phillies had Kelly on their radar in the past. “Kelly is a guy who was on waivers twice in the last few months, and both times that he was passing through waivers we were intrigued by him and would have liked to have placed a claim but our roster was in a position where he couldn’t do it,” Klentak said. “But now with the ability to transfer (Clay) Buchholz to the (60-day DL) and free up a spot, we were able to acquire him.” Aaron Altherr, not Kelly, will see the majority of time in left while Kendrick’s out, Lawrence notes.
  • The Nationals will place righty Stephen Strasburg on the paternity leave list Monday, meaning he’ll miss his scheduled start Tuesday in Colorado, reports Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com. Washington is likely to recall Jacob Turner to fill Strasburg’s void for a start, while the latter will return in time to take the mound either Friday or Saturday.

Mets Injury Updates: Duda, Flores, Cespedes, Cabrera, d’Arnaud

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The health issues have begun to pile up for the Mets, who just began their first series of the year against the division-rival Nationals. Manager Terry Collins spoke with reporters (including MLB.com’s Danny Knobler) before the game and provided updates on several players:

  • First baseman Lucas Duda is heading to the DL after hyperextending his elbow in a collision at first base on Wednesday. It’s not known how long he’s expected to miss, but clearly the expectation is he needs at least a ten-day layoff. While the hot-hitting, left-handed slugger will be missed in the lineup, he’s actually a fairly easy player to replace for New York given the presence of three left-handed corner outfielders — including Jay Bruce, who’s playing at first again tonight.
  • Also hitting the 10-day DL is infielder Wilmer Flores, who is currently in the hospital for treatment of an infection in his right knee. It’s not immediately clear what it’ll take to get him back in working order, but he’s expected to remain hospitalized through the weekend, per the report.
  • Coming up to fill in for that pair are utilityman T.J. Rivera and lefty Sean Gilmartin. The latter is expected to function in a relief role, but could see a spot start. Jacob deGrom was unable to take the hill tonight after coming down with a stiff neck, but he’ll try again tomorrow. If the seemingly minor issue still proves problematic, then Gilmartin will step into the rotation briefly.
  • While those two DL placements were the only ones required at this point, there are several other key players who are too banged up to play tonight. Yoenis Cespedes will need a few days off to rest his hamstring, though it’s surely a good sign that he’s being kept on the active roster. Likewise, a hammy issue is holding back shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera, though he’s expected to be back in the lineup tomorrow. And backstop Travis d’Arnaud’s bruised wrist left him unable to throw well enough to suit up tonight, though it seems he too will be back in short order. While the club has a skeleton crew tonight, they’ll seek to get by without further roster shakeups for the time being.

NL East Notes: Cespedes, Nationals, Chen

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Yoenis Cespedes exited tonight’s game with a hamstring injury that was heavily wrapped after the contest, as Newsday’s Marc Carig notes (all Twitter links). Mets manager Terry Collins expressed some concern over the injury, Carig notes. Cespedes told reporters that he felt a “shock” in his leg, though he added that the current injury doesn’t feel as bad as previous hamstring issues that have sidelined him for four and five days at a time in prior seasons. Cespedes will receive an MRI in the morning, and Carig notes that doctors currently expect an absence of two to three days. The Mets have no shortage of outfielders on hand to cover a brief absence for Cespedes, with Curtis Granderson, Michael Conforto, Jay Bruce and Juan Lagares all on the roster. Of course, none of those players comes with Cespedes’ upside at the plate, and his absence removes the Mets’ most potent right-handed bat from the lineup. And the fact that the Mets are slated to begin a three-game series with the division-rival Nationals this weekend, the timing of the injury is obviously poor.

Elsewhere in the NL East…

  • Speaking of the Nationals, Joel Sherman of the New York Post spoke to one team official who tells him that the Nats pursued Kenley Jansen, Mark Melancon and David Robertson “very aggressively” this offseason but weren’t able to close either free-agent deal or swing a trade with the White Sox. Sherman notes that it’s somewhat surprising to see an expected division contender neglect to address its most obvious need in the offseason and writes that the Nationals may have little choice but to go beyond their comfort zone in trade talks for Robertson or another available closing option this summer. Sherman lists Tampa Bay’s Alex Colome as a speculative option, while FanRag’s Jon Heyman suggests that the Rays’ Brad Boxberger or the Cardinals’ Trevor Rosenthal make sense as on-paper fits. (Though Rosenthal, of course, is throwing quite well this season and there’s no guarantee the Cardinals would even be willing to move him.) Beyond those two speculative fits, Heyman adds that as of the end of Spring Training, there’d been no recent talks with the ChiSox regarding Robertson.
  • Marlins manager Don Mattingly created some degree of controversy when he elected to pull Wei-Yin Chen after the lefty had thrown seven no-hit innings yesterday, but Tim Healey of the South Florida Sun Sentinel reminds that Chen is pitching through a slight tear in his ulnar collateral ligament that was discovered last summer. The tear, however, isn’t something that has hindered Chen, the left-hander himself told the Miami media. “With the tear in the ligament, it doesn’t really heal,” Chen said through a translator. “It’s still there. It won’t heal. So I don’t really think about if it’ll get worse or not. I just think about with this, what treatment I should be getting.” Chen opted for a platelet-rich plasma injection and plenty of rest for his injury last summer, as the tear is not significant, Healey notes. Several pitchers have gone this route, with varying degrees of success. Healey lists Masahiro Tanaka as one prominent example and notes that Adam Wainwright pitched more than five years with a modest tear of his elbow ligament before undergoing Tommy John. (I’ll add that Ervin Santana also pitched through a partial UCL tear and never required surgery.) Mattingly flatly said that given Chen’s 2016 injury, he simply won’t consider letting Chen throw 130 pitches in a start.

Mets Activate Jeurys Familia From Restricted List

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The Mets announced on Thursday that closer Jeurys Familia has been activated from the restricted list after serving his 15-game suspension under Major League Baseball’s domestic violence policy. The team also recalled catcher Kevin Plawecki from Triple-A Las Vegas and optioned right-hander Rafael Montero and left-hander Sean Gilmartin to Vegas.

Familia, 27, will rejoin a Mets bullpen that currently ranks in the middle of the pack, league-wide, in terms of earned run average. Of course, that includes some problematic innings from Montero (seven earned runs, 6 2/3 frames), who was optioned out today upon Familia’s activation. While manager Terry Collins has said Familia will be eased back into the closer’s role, Addison Reed figures to see a few more save opportunities before Familia fully reclaims his previous role.

Familia was arrested back in early November after allegedly assaulting his wife, but the charges were dropped at his wife’s request the following month. As we saw last year in the suspensions of Aroldis Chapman and Jose Reyes, however, a lack of criminal charges is not necessarily an impediment to a suspension under the league’s still fairly new policy. Beyond his 15-game suspension (and the lost salary that accompanies that punishment — about $730K, in Familia’s case), the right-hander agreed to make a donation and speak to several rookie players on the matter. Familia also underwent extensive counseling sessions this offseason.

From a purely on-field vantage point, the return of Familia will be a boon to the Mets’ relief corps. Over the past three seasons, the hard-throwing righty has amassed 233 innings with a 2.20 ERA, 243 strikeouts and 70 unintentional walks. He led the National League with 51 saves in 2016, saved 43 games the year before and has led the Senior Circuit in games finished in each of the past two seasons (a combined 132 games).

Phillies Came Closest To Landing Jay Bruce Over The Winter

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Though by all accounts he has done nothing but go about his business as a professional, outfielder Jay Bruce has had an eventful tenure with the Mets since arriving last summer via trade. While the club picked up his option last fall, it reportedly dangled him in trade talks once Yoenis Cespedes returned in free agency.

Among the teams that inquired about Bruce, it was the rebuilding Phillies who came closest to acquiring him over the recent offseason, Marc Carig of Newsday reports. It’s not known what got in the way of a deal, though perhaps New York wanted some kind of prospect return or Philadelphia wasn’t willing to take on his entire $13MM salary.

The pursuit of Bruce, who’ll be a free agent at year’s end, certainly fits within the Phillies’ recent operating philosophy of adding short-term veteran pieces to boost the club in the near term (and provide possible trade chips) without clogging up future balance sheets. The Phils ended up adding two such outfielders, Howie Kendrick and Michael Saunders. Presumably, the club wouldn’t have signed the latter, who was not added until mid-January, had it managed to acquire Bruce.

Other organizations that at least expressed interest, Carig notes, were the Giants and Orioles. But clearly neither of those clubs was willing to push the envelope to add Bruce, who struggled to a .219/.294/.391 slash line over his 187 plate appearances with the Mets in 2016. In the end, the Mets held onto the slugger.

As it turns out, the lack of sufficient interest may have worked to the Mets’ advantage. Though the presence of Bruce on the roster along with Curtis Granderson and Michael Conforto has continued to create something of a logjam, the 30-year-old Bruce is more than making up for that with a highly productive start to the year. Through 62 plate appearances, he’s hitting a robust .309/.387/.673 with six long balls.

It’ll be interesting to see how things play out over the course of the season. Bruce is a notoriously streaky hitter, though the Mets will be glad to ride things out for the time being. Conforto is clamoring for more playing time with a great start in limited action. And Granderson is scuffling quite a bit early, though of the three he’s the choice to line up in center field (where he could begin to cede time to Juan Lagares). Tough choices could be required if other roster needs arise, or if the team determines that Conforto needs to play more regularly, though it remains plausible to imagine all three players sticking with the Mets for the full season. And if Bruce is able to maintain anything like his current production, it’ll be interesting to see whether the organization considers a qualifying offer after the season.

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