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New York Mets Injury News: Travis d’Arnaud Suffers Fractured Hand

By Kenneth Teape

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New York Mets Injury News: Travis d’Arnaud Latest Met Heading To DL

It was a rough afternoon Sunday for the New York Mets. They lost LHP Jerry Blevins in the top of the seventh inning to a fractured forearm, and in the bottom of the seventh things continued to get worse. They would lose another player, as Travis d’Arnaud was forced from the game after getting hit by a pitch in his right hand by Miami Marlins reliever A.J. Ramos. The end result was as negative as it could get, as d’Arnaud had X-rays and they came back with bad results as d’Arnaud suffered a fractured right hand.

This is yet another huge blow to the Mets lineup, as they already lost David Wright to a pulled hamstring earlier in the week and will now be without one of their hottest hitters to start the season.

d’Arnaud was off to an outstanding start to his sophomore season as the starting catcher, slashing .317/.356/.537 with four extra-base hits and 10 RBI, behind only Lucas Duda. He has excelled in both a run producing and table setting spot, as d’Arnaud was moved up to the two-hole after the starting the season seventh and sixth and continued to hit the ball well.

This is an unfortunate situation, as d’Arnaud just cannot shake the injury bug. He has suffered an injury and been on the DL every season he has been with the Mets. Last season he suffered a concussion, and fractured his foot in 2013. He has had very poor luck with the injuries that he has suffered, just this time around it comes as he was in the midst of a breakout season.

Currently on the team, the Mets have Anthony Recker as a backup catcher. It is never a good thing to have your backup catcher just step right into a full time starting role, but Recker will undoubtedly receive more playing time now. Who the Mets call up from Triple-A though will present an interesting dilemma.

On their Triple-A roster, the Mets have one of their top hitting prospects in Kevin Plawecki. He would be the logical choice, as the Mets would be able to get an extended look at one of the better players they have in their farm system. But he has struggled thus far this season, slashing only .229/.250/.343.

Because of that, the Mets could opt to go in a different direction, and call up his teammate Johnny Monell. Monell had a strong spring training, and that has carried over to the regular season in the minor leagues. He does not have as many at-bats as Plawecki, but he has delivered when given the opportunity, slashing .353/.400/.529.

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Monell also has a slight edge because he is left-handed. The Mets are sorely lacking left-handed bats off the bench when they use their everyday lineup, as outfielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis is the only lefty normally coming off the bench for Terry Collins. That could mean he could also form a platoon with Recker, which may be the smart way to go as neither has much experience being an everyday catcher, especially for the length of time that d’Arnaud could miss this time around.

d’Arnaud could miss at least six weeks just waiting for the injury to heal. Then he could need some rehab time, so we may not see d’Arnaud until early June. That is a huge blow and disappointing loss as d’Arnaud was starting to really break out and will be tough to replace. The injuries are really beginning to mount for the Mets.

Next: Where Did The Mets Rank In Week 2 Of Our MLB Power Rankings?

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