Mets hope d’Arnaud will reenter rehab games this week

The Mets are hopeful that Travis d’Arnaud will reenter minor league rehab games this week, Terry Collins said on Monday.

D’Arnaud was shut down last Friday due to a bone bruise in his right wrist that he suffered on Thursday night and has been idle since then.

Prior to suffering the bone bruise — that is unrelated to the broken pinky he’s returning from — d’Arnaud played in an extended spring training game on Tuesday before catching and DH’ing for High-A St. Lucie on Wednesday and Thursday respectively.

The plan for d’Arnaud is to advance through the minors while rehabbing — meaning he could perhaps reenter rehab games with either Double-A Binghamton or Triple-A Las Vegas.

Sandy Alderson said after d’Arnaud suffered the bone bruise in his wrist that it would only slightly delay his rehab.

D’Arnaud, who has been out since April 20 due to a broken finger, was cleared for baseball activity three weeks ago. He suffered the fracture on the little finger of his right hand when he was hit by a pitch on April 19.

Prior to the injury, d’Arnaud was hitting .317 with a .356 OBP and a .537 SLG.

It’s expected that Kevin Plawecki will return to Tripe-A Las Vegas when d’Arnaud is activated.

Thoughts:

D’Arnaud was very close to a return prior to suffering the bone bruise, and the expectation was the he would’ve been activated either during the series the Mets just opened in San Diego or during their series in Arizona later this week.

It’s not out of the realm of possibility for d’Arnaud to return by the weekend, but a more likely return date might be Tuesday, June 9 against San Francisco at Citi Field.

The Mets’ offense has been less anemic lately, but the return of d’Arnaud should give them a needed jolt during a time when the return of David Wright remains up in the air.