Jeurys Familia is dealing with tendinitis in his right elbow:

According to Mark Hale in the New York Post, Mets reliever Jeurys Familia has soreness/tendinitis in his right (pitching) elbow.  The elbow first started bothering Familia during the inning he pitched on Wednesday night, and he was unavailable last night.  Writes Hale:

Asked if he was concerned about the situation, Familia shrugged.  ‘I want to play,’ he said.  Manager Terry Collins said he was aware of Familia’s condition before the game [Thursday] and used his bullpen accordingly.

When asked how long he’d be out, Familia responded by saying “I’ll be OK – a couple of days.”

Hopefully this is just a blip on the radar for Familia, who has been very solid recently.  I’d expect the Mets to have him examined (if he hasn’t been already) before clearing him to return to action.

Travis d’Arnaud could be a week away from starting rehab on his broken foot:

Travis d’Arnaud, who suffered a broken foot when a ball was fouled off him while catching on April 17th, is scheduled to fly to New York a week from today to be evaluated by team doctors.  It’s expected that d’Arnaud will then fly to Florida to begin rehab.  It was initially thought that d’Arnaud would miss eight weeks, but he says he may return sooner:

I’m going to New York May 17 for a doctors appointment. I know after I see the doctor I go to Florida to start strengthening. Who knows, it could be quicker (than eight weeks), you never know.

With John Buck cooling off, it’ll be great to see d’Arnaud get back in action.  If all goes well, d’Arnaud will be back in games by early or mid June, which could pave the way for his major league debut right around the All-Star break.

Zack Wheeler could be called up soon, or not:

Yesterday, Las Vegas manager Wally Backman stated that if Zack Wheeler threw in his next two starts like he did in his prior two starts, he wouldn’t be long for AAA.  Backman speculated that Wheeler would be  “about two weeks away” from the majors in that scenario.  In the Daily News, Andy Martino quoted several Mets sources regarding the potential promotion date of Zack Wheeler.

Mar 18, 2013; Jupiter, FL, USA; New York Mets catcher Travis d

According to Martino, one source said Wheeler would be up by June 1st “at the latest,” while another source referred to that timetable as “a little aggressive.”  A third source opined that Wheeler’s promotion could be even further off, occurring sometime in July.  Regardless of the speculation, Martino continues to report that it will be Wheeler’s performance that dictates his eventual callup, not his Super Two status:

The team has never been overly concerned about keeping Wheeler in the minors through mid-to-late June in order to avoid becoming an expensive ‘Super Two’ player, a distinction in salary arbitration determined by big league service time. Although financial considerations are not entirely irrelevant, Mets people insist the decision will be based largely on Wheeler’s readiness.

Predicting when Wheeler will be called up is and always has been a total guessing game.  If Wheeler continues to perform as he has recently and the Mets’ rotation remains unsettled, Wheeler’s big league debut could be around the corner.  Still, only Sandy Alderson knows what the true timetable is.  Wheeler next starts tomorrow for Las Vegas.

Jenrry Mejia returns to game action:

Jenrry Mejia, who was shut down during spring training with a forearm injury, has recently resumed pitching in extended spring training in Port St. Lucie.  He’s scheduled to make his first rehab start for St. Lucie (high A) tomorrow.

The Mets have been yanking Mejia back and forth from starter to reliever for the last three plus years, so It’d be nice for them to pick a plan and stick with it this time around.  If Mejia progresses and improves his command, he could be either a rotation option later in the season or a live arm to add to the bullpen (depending on the role the Mets choose for him).

Shin-Soo Choo is a potential free agent target:

In the Daily News, John Harper quotes various Mets and baseball executives who believe the team will go after free agent Shin-Soo Choo after the season:

‘I’d bet on him being a Met next season,’ one major league exec with past ties to GM Sandy Alderson said on Thursday.  ‘He’s a high on-base percentage guy, which is what Sandy wants, and he’s a really good hitter.’

In January, Rising Apple listed four outfielders the Mets should consider signing after 2013.  Those outfielders were Carlos Gomez, Jacoby Ellsbury, Carlos Beltran, and Choo.  Gomez has since signed an extension with the Brewers, so he’s off the board.

Choo, who will turn 31 in July, is hitting .323 with a major league leading .453 OBP to go along with seven homers and 15 RBI’s.  Over his nine year career, Choo’s 162 game average shakes out as follows: a .291 batting average, .385 OBP, 20 homers, 86 RBI’s, 92 runs scored, and 38 doubles.  He’s currently playing center field for the Reds, but he’s better suited in one of the corner outfield spots.  His agent is Scott Boras.

Thanks for reading! Be sure to Like Rising Apple’s Facebook page and follow @RisingAppleBlog on Twitter to keep up with the latest news, rumors, and opinion.

Feb 21, 2013; Port St Lucie, FL, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Zack Wheeler (65) poses for a picture during photo day at Tradition Field. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Unfortunately for Las Vegas baseball fans, this is the second consecutive year they have witnessed d’Arnaud’s season compromised by an injury.  Last year while still in Toronto’s organization, his 2012 season came to an end after just sixty-seven games.  While still topical, here is my thought in response to the media and general reaction as it pertains to d’Arnaud.  In a nutshell, it has been widely speculated the Mets prized catching prospect is possibly injury prone.  Travis’ latest setback is being grouped together with his back problems from 2010, and a knee injury in 2012.  Saying he is prone to injury, I believe is a bit much.  A foul tip is just a freak thing. Suffering from bulging discs in 2010 is something to ponder.  I certainly agree.   But last year’s knee injury appears corrected.  In this case, I do not believe these three instances form a correlation.  To suggest he is injury prone wreaks, to me, of a knee jerk reaction and sensationalism on the media’s part, due in part to d’Arnaud’s high regard.

Travis d’Arnaud’s battery mate, Zack Wheeler, has not been without his own criticisms.  After three starts, he had yet to win a game this season.  Prior to Friday, his 3.86 earned run average was based on six earned runs allowed in fourteen innings pitched.  He surrendered seventeen hits and walked six for a lofty 1.643 WHiP.  His 3.9% W/9 was down from his usual 4.1%, but still not where he needs to be.  Wheeler’s LOB% additionally reached his minor league low of sixty-eight percent.  His best mark came in 2011, when he stranded runners at an 81.8% clip.  On the bright side, his seventeen strikeouts gave him a 10.9% average per nine innings pitched.

So how did he do Friday night?  Not too well I’m afraid.  He was hampered by more control issues.  His fourth start of the season against the visiting Sacramento River Cats started strong, but ultimately only lasted 4.1 innings.  His personal efforts went awry in the fifth.  In all, he allowed four earned runs on three hits, and issued six ponderous bases on balls.  He struck out four batters, but watched his ERA balloon to a 4.91 mark.  Zack Wheeler was actually getting progressively better with each start until this step backwards.  Up in Flushing, Terry Collins‘ want to have Wheeler on the big club sooner than later may need rethinking.  Although, GM Sandy Alderson seems to have no apparent conflict regarding Wheeler’s status.

Zack Wheeler may have struggled Friday evening, but the 51′s offense provided plenty of support.  After the River Cats jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead in the top of the second, Las Vegas promptly tied the game in the bottom half of the frame.  In the third, the offense handed Zack Wheeler a 4-1 lead.  When Sacramento tied the game with three off Wheeler in the fifth, Las Vegas cranked out another burst of offense to cover.  A run in the sixth, three in the seventh, and two more runs in the eighth inning inevitably led to a 10-5 final score.

Greg Peavey got credit for the win in relief.  Outside of an inconsequential run scored by the River Cats in the ninth off Dylan Owen, Sacramento mustered little against the bullpen duo of Greg Peavey and Justin Hampson.

First baseman Eric Campbell tied the game in the third with his first home run of the season.  He scored three times and drove in two runs.  Left fielder Jamie Hoffmann had three hits, including a double, in four times up.  Reese Havens, who did not start, entered the game at third base, and finished with two hits in two at-bats.  He hit his first home run of the season in the seventh.

Catcher Juan Centeno Promoted From Binghamton After Injury To d’Arnaud

Earlier in the week, Juan Centeno, 23, was assigned from Binghamton to fill in during d’Arnaud’s absence from the diamond.  He is a light hitter, never exhibiting power at any level.  Juan spent his first full season in Binghamton last year, where he batted a respectable .285 and managed an equally respectable .337 on-base percentage.  In 281 at-bats, he drove in thirty-five runs, partly through stroking twelve doubles.  His true worth lies with defense.  Centeno excelled playing seventy-nine games behind the plate last season.  In seven minor league campaigns, he owns a .986 fielding percentage.  In 2012 for Binghamton, that mark improved to .991, and he additionally threw out would be base-stealers at an astonishing rate of forty-one percent.  This will be Juan Centeno’s first venture in AAA level baseball.

From AREA 51

If anyone in Flushing has designs on utilizing Omar Quintanilla to light a fire under Ruben Tejada‘s posterior, first consider Omar is only hitting .250 so far after forty-four at-bats.  Ruben is also batting .250 after fifty-two at-bats.  Omar Quintanilla has Ruben beat however, with a .340 OBP, versus Ruben’s slightly lower .328 on-base percentage.  Defensively, Ruben has six “official” errors for a .913 fielding average, while Omar has committed four errors, and comes in slightly better with a .938 FA.

RELATED LINK

From the Las Vegas Sun – Hoping Cashman Field’s days are numbered for greener pastures of Summerlin – by Ray Brewer.

This is an article which A) – highlights the continuing ownership developments, B) – details the author’s support for relocating the team, and C) – serves as a sharp rebuke of Cashman Field.  A great article for Mets fans who want insight into the conditions facing the organization’s players in Las Vegas.

Thanks for reading!  Be sure to Like Rising Apple’s Facebook page and follow @RisingAppleBlog on Twitter to keep up with the latest news, rumors, and opinion.

While catching Adam Kolarek last night with two outs in the top of the sixth, Travis d’Arnaud took a foul ball off his foot.  After getting nicked, d’Arnaud remained face down in the dirt for a bit.  That prompted the trainer and manager Wally Backman to trot out to check on him.  d’Arnaud then propped himself up on one knee for about 30 seconds before getting up and walking it off.  He was clearly in some pain, but remained in to complete the inning.  Afterwards, he was pinch hit for by Landon Powell.

March 8, 2013; Lakeland, FL, USA; New York Mets catcher Travis d

Per Adam Rubin, d’Arnaud has a bruise on his left foot.  It’s being called a non-displaced fracture of the first metatarsal (bone just behind the big toe).  He’s in a walking boot.

After studying up a bit, it appears that the injury d’Arnaud has requires about a month to recover from.  He’s headed to New York to be examined.

Collins and Alderson on Zack Wheeler:

During an appearance yesterday with Mike Francesa on WFAN, Terry Collins intimated that the Mets would soon have to consider bringing Zack Wheeler up to the big leagues.  Here’s what Sandy Alderson had to say later in the day regarding Wheeler and when he’ll be promoted:

It was always a case that it would be Zack’s sufficiency and the major-league team’s need.  If those two things merge, the need and the performance converge, then it is a possibility.  That could happen sooner or it could happen later.

Some people are using the above quote from Alderson to claim that he somehow shot Collins’ comments down.  I don’t believe that to be the case.  Alderson has always maintained that when Wheeler was deemed ready, he’d be called up.  Clearly, Aaron Laffey and/or Jeremy Hefner pitching poorly won’t be the reason Wheeler is called upon.  However, as Alderson stated, two factors could converge: a need in the rotation and Wheeler being ready to fill that need.

Yesterday, Andy Martino of the Daily News suggested that people should relax for “a few months” regarding the clamoring for Wheeler.  I think that’s absurd.  Sandy Alderson has stated since February that while Super Two status is a factor, it’s not the determining factor – and unless Wheeler pitches poorly in AAA, preventing Super Two status would likely be the only reason Zack Wheeler stays in the minors beyond May.

Aaron Laffey bumped for Jeremy Hefner:

To the chagrin of Mets fans, Aaron Laffey was initially scheduled to pitch Saturday at Citi Field.    Because of yesterday’s postponement, the Mets have again changed the rotation schedule around.  Because the Mets didn’t play last night (and are only playing one game today), they elected to skip Laffey and replace him with Jeremy Hefner.

If Shaun Marcum is ready to be activated in roughly a week, there’s a chance we may have seen the last of Aaron Laffey toeing the rubber for the Mets.  Nothing personal against Laffey, but that would be for the best.

Marlon Byrd in Center Field?

If last night’s game had been played, Marlon Byrd would’ve been the center fielder (with Jordany Valdespin in left field).  Terry Collins toyed with Byrd in center during spring training, and it seemed like a horrendous idea then.  Simply put, barring multiple in-game injuries forcing his hand, there is absolutely no reason why Terry Collins should ever place Marlon Byrd in center.

And what do you know? Byrd is in today’s starting lineup in, you guessed it, center field!

Ahead of Byrd on the depth chart in center field are Collin Cowgill, Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Jordany Valdespin, and Mike Baxter.  Cowgill and Nieuwenhuis are above average out there, and both Baxter and Valdespin are better options than Byrd.  With the way he’s played, Byrd deserves to be in the lineup.  His place in the outfield, however, is in one of the corners.  He doesn’t have the range to play center, making Collins’ decision to put him there ridiculous.

Thanks for reading! Be sure to Like Rising Apple’s Facebook page and follow @RisingAppleBlog on Twitter to keep up with the latest news, rumors, and opinion.