Mets Injury Updates: Jason Bay and Ruben Tejada Nearing Returns to Mets

Josh Thole‘s presence in the lineup Friday night at Citi Field meant one thing; there are still two more starters on the disabled list that Terry Collins would love to have available to him. Those two men are Jason Bay and Ruben Tejada. Thole was able to return to the Mets without any limitations from his May 7th concussion, and he should come back from injury more often if Johan Santana makes this no-hitter thing a habit.

Jason Bay will once again be the designated hitter this weekend in an extended Spring Training game down in Port St. Lucie. Almost six weeks removed from his fractured left rib, Terry Collins is hoping that his left fielder will get some game action in the field on Monday. The Mets skipper told the media that even though Jason hasn’t been in the field in a game yet down in Florida, he’s done enough

defensive drills to be more than comfortable out there. Once he gets that game under his belt on Monday and reports no ill effects, his return should be right around the corner, which is more than what we can say about Ruben Tejada and his eventual return.

After being examined by doctors, Tejada was cleared to continue the rehab of his strained right quad, which has proved to be more annoying than anything else now for Mets fans. The 22-year-old shortstop participated in running drills in the outfield Friday, while hitting in the cage and taking some ground balls. He is scheduled to run the bases Saturday before the Mets take on the Cardinals in the second game of their four game set. If Tejada recovers well, he will be given his minor league rehab assignment to get some game action underneath his belt before he returns to the Amazins.

With the return of Thole, Collins decided to keep Nickeas with the team and option Rob Johnson back down to Triple-A; the thought being that he wants him to continue playing, and swinging that good bat. Collins plans on using Thole quite a bit now that he’s back and wants to keep the defensive-minded Nickeas around to spell him every few games. Elvin Ramirez got a call up to the Mets, which meant that the struggling Chris Schwinden was designated for assignment. New York has more roster decisions to make, especially with Pedro Beato and Chris Young getting close to completing their rehab. Oh, and neither one of them is one the 40-man roster, either. So, the next week or so should be an interesting one for Collins and Sandy Alderson.