Mets injury news: Black, Parnell continued rehab stints on Thursday

Vic Black and Bobby Parnell continued their rehab assignments on Thursday night, pitching an inning each for High-A St. Lucie.

Black, who opened the season on the disabled list due to shoulder weakness, tossed a scoreless frame.

Parnell, who is working his way back from last April’s Tommy John surgery, allowed two runs on two hits in his inning of work.

Both Black and Parnell began their rehab stints on Tuesday, pitching an inning each.

Thoughts:

It’s not clear exactly when Black or Parnell might rejoin the team, but it appears that Black is ahead of Parnell.

Prior to the season, it was reported that Black might return for the seventh game of the season, so him returning soon should be expected. As far as Parnell, the initial estimate was late-April/early-May, and it seems that may turn out to be when he returns.

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Parnell, whose average fastball velocity in 2013 was roughly 95 MPH, was sitting between 89 and 93 MPH on Thursday, only touching 93 MPH once, according to Adam Rubin of ESPN New York.

With the Mets reverting to a seven-man bullpen and five-man bench, they’ll have some difficult decisions to make when Black and Parnell are activated.

Assuming the Mets demote Erik Goeddel or Rafael Montero on Friday to make room for Danny Muno, locks to remain in the bullpen when Black and Parnell return are Jeurys Familia, Carlos Torres, and Jerry Blevins.

After that, it gets dicey.

When Black returns, whoever is still in the bullpen between Goeddel and Montero will almost certainly be optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas.

When Parnell returns, the Mets will likely decide between dropping Sean Gilmartin, Alex Torres, or Buddy Carlyle.

Gilmartin, who was a Rule 5 pick, must spend the entire season on the 25-man roster or be offered back to the Twins. Alex Torres is out of options, and Carlyle is a pitcher the Mets went to an eight-man bullpen in order to hold on to.

Regardless of how it shakes out, the Mets should have a very solid back-end of the pen when both Black and Parnell are back, with those two joining Jeurys Familia at the end of games.