Mets injury news: Travis d’Arnaud to begin rehab assignment

New York Mets catcher Travis d’Arnaud, who has been on the disabled list since June 23 due to a hyperextended left elbow, will begin a rehab assignment with High-A St. Lucie on Thursday night.
D’Arnaud suffered the injury during a play at the plate in Atlanta on June 20 and was initially expected to return to the lineup a few days later. Instead, he was placed on the disabled list and was in a brace for a few weeks before being cleared for baseball activity.
In April, d’Arnaud suffered a fractured right pinky when he was hit by a pitch, and missed nearly two months.
Due to the elbow and pinky injuries, d’Arnaud has been limited to just 19 games so far this season, where he has hit .296/.338/.535 with four home runs and 17 RBI.
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In d’Arnaud’s stead, Kevin Plawecki has been the starting catcher, and has hit .239/.282/.317.
Thoughts:
With d’Arnaud entering rehab games on Thursday, that should put him on track to return to the Mets during next week’s homestand at Citi Field — perhaps in time for their series against the Nationals that starts on Friday, July 31.
Being without d’Arnaud for the majority of the season has arguably been just as bad as being without David Wright — who recently began baseball activity — and the Mets need to cross their fingers that he’ll be able to stay healthy the rest of the way.
As has been noted many times, though, even when d’Arnaud returns, the Mets will still be in need of multiple external offensive upgrades. With Michael Cuddyer hurt but still on the roster, Wilmer Flores and Juan Lagares struggling mightily, and the bench being basically a non-entity, the Mets will have plenty of work to do between now and July 31.