Travis d’Arnaud is scheduled to participate in an extended spring training game on Tuesday with the hope that he can return to the lineup as soon as early next week.
Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said that d’Arnaud will play five innings. If all goes well, he will play for Class A St. Lucie for a day or two, then head to Triple-A Las Vegas to complete a rehab assignment.
“It can happen within the next five, six days,” Alderson said.
D'Arnaud has been on the disabled list since suffering a fractured pinkie on his throwing hand when he was struck by a fastball from Miami Marlins reliever A.J. Ramos on April 19.
Alderson said it was possible that d’Arnaud would return for the Mets' series against the Padres starting on June 1. If not, the GM is hopeful that d’Arnaud will be in the lineup against the Diamondbacks in a series that begins on June 4.
Home cooking: The Mets improved to 18-6 at Citi Field with Monday’s win. The 18-6 home start is tied with the 1972 team for the best home start in franchise history.
Manager Terry Collins cited the supportive vibes from the home crowd for the success.
“I think the positive reinforcement is something the guys are responding to,” he said.
Lucky 7: Shortstop Wilmer Flores hit his team-leading seventh homer of the season to break a 3-3 tie on Monday. He leads all major league shortstops in home runs.
“I’m doing what I’m supposed to do,” he said. “Everyone knows what I can do, I know what I can do. Just got to execute and just got to do it.”
Flores has a hit in 11 of his past 12 games, batting .282 with three homers and nine RBIs in that span.
Six shooter: Both Alderson and Collins said that there was no specific timetable on how long the team would stick with a six-man starting pitching rotation.
“This is nothing more than trying to protect us in the big picture of things in the years to come,” Collins said.
The team is trying to keep its pitchers fresh over the course of the season and avoid injury.
“If we don’t like the looks of it the second time through, then we’ll make some adjustments,” Collins said.
Collins added that Matt Harvey may throw a batting practice session between starts to remain fresh. Harvey has expressed a displeasure with pitching on an extra day of rest.