Injury Updates on Travis d’Arnaud and Jonathon Niese

There were a pair of important injury updates today.  One regarding catching prospect Travis d’Arnaud, the other having to do with starting pitcher Jonathon Niese.

Mar 24 2013; Jupiter, FL, USA; New York Mets catcher Travis d

d’Arnaud, who was acquired as part of the trade that sent R.A. Dickey to Toronto, has been out since April since the metatarsal in his foot was fractured when a batter fouled a ball off his foot.  He was in a walking boot until a few weeks ago, and recently reported some discomfort while running on flat ground.  The Mets classified the discomfort as a normal part of the recovery process.  Today, manager Terry Collins provided another update on the 24 year old d’Arnaud:

"He’s hitting. He’s throwing.  He’s catching in the pens. He’s doing everything except playing right now."

Collins went on to say that the only issue with d’Arnaud continues to be running full throttle.  Once d’Arnaud is able to clear that hurdle, there should be nothing holding him back from rehab games/re-joining AAA Las Vegas.

Once d’Arnaud starts playing again in AAA, it’ll be up to the Mets to determine how many games they want him to get under his belt before he gets the call to the Mets.

The other injury update was on Jonathon Niese.  The 26 year old lefty had a second MRI on his shoulder last week that brought good news.  What was initially classified as a “slight tear” of his left rotator cuff looked more like regular wear and tear after the second MRI was done.  After that MRI, Niese was cleared to head to Port St. Lucie to begin the rehab process.

According to Collins, Niese began long tossing today in Florida.  Per Adam Rubin, Niese will enter rehab games once he’s sufficiently strengthened his shoulder.  After that, he’ll return to the Mets and supplant Carlos Torres in the rotation.

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