Morning Mets Notes: Shaun Marcum Suffers Another Setback

Despite landing on the disabled list to start the season, the Mets were expecting Shaun Marcum to shake off his biceps tendonitis and neck discomfort in time to face the Miami Marlins on Sunday as their fifth starter. The next step in the process toward appearing in Flushing over the weekend was to throw a simulated game in PSL yesterday, but that never happened.

The right-hander once again experienced neck pain and was unable to throw in the simulated game, which pushes back his official Mets debut further than originally anticipated. Terry Collins heard the unfortunate news regarding Marcum yesterday evening, and said he would discuss their options with the appropriate people upon arriving at the ballpark today. They can choose from Collin McHugh (who is on the 40-man roster) and Aaron Laffey (who isn’t). Toward the end of spring training, Collins indicated Laffey would be their first option should they need immediate rotation help, and it should be easy to create space for him on the 40-man by transferring Johan Santanato the 60-day DL.

Feb 23, 2013; Port St Lucie, FL, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Shaun Marcum (38) throws in the first inning against the Washington Nationals during a spring training game at Tradition Field. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

I saw quite a few mention Chris Young‘s name, who was given his unconditional release by the Nationals last week, in an effort to land on a major league roster. While it would be nice to insert Young for the time being, it truly wouldn’t make sense going to the trouble of signing him because once Marcum comes back (assuming he’s not out of commission for an extended period of time), there will be no place to put Young. If Marcum is projected to be out for only a few starts, Laffey should be a worthy replacement; he had a good spring (3.00 ERA, 1.58 WHIP in 12 IP) and has experience as a starter at the major league level (65 starts). If Marcum ends up being out for a couple months, which at this point, could be entirely possible for all we know, then it could make sense to bring Young into the fold. Marcum is scheduled to get re-evaluated today, so once we know the severity of his injury, we’ll see how the Amazins want to approach it.

On a day without any Mets regular season baseball, Danny Abriano kept us current with the day’s news and notes coming out of Flushing. Of the major news that broke, Johan Santana underwent successful shoulder capsule surgery for the second time in 31 months at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan. Everyone at Rising Apple wishes Johan a full recovery so he’s able to finish his professional career on his own terms.

Even though Citi Field was empty a day after their 11-2 beatdown of the San Diego Padres, make sure you give our Opening Day podcast a listen while you’re at work today. It was a great show that truly caught the atmosphere and excitement of what Day 1 of 162 really feels like to all of us fans. Plus, it will just get you amped for tonight’s match-up.

There were a number of Rising Apple staffers present in Flushing on Monday afternoon, and Danny was one of them; he provides some of his observations from Opening Day right here. After a fantastic debut in the Orange and Blue, I put the spotlight on Collin Cowgill and how the Mets’ starting center fielder is finally getting a chance to show he belongs in the big leagues.

The Mets are set to take the field tonight, as Matt Harvey makes his 2013 debut against Clayton Richard. Harvey is also trying to record the first home win of his young career, and I’m hoping he does, since I’ll be in attendance tonight. Let’s go Mets!

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.