Mets manager Carlos Mendoza provided a number of injury updated prior to Monday’s game in Minnesota…
Ronny Mauricio
It’s been a long road to recovery for Ronny Mauricio, but he’s set to take a big step this week.
The young infielder will be back in game action for the first time on Tuesday afternoon, as he slots in as the designated hitter in the Florida Complex League at extended spring training.
Mauricio was initially sidelined due to a torn ACL he suffered while playing in Winter Ball last offseason — and while working his way back he was forced to undergo a second procedure to remove scar tissue — shortly after, he dealt with inflammation that stalled his recovery.
Since then it’s been smooth sailing for the 24-year-old — the Mets opted to play things and not rush him back into action during spring training, but now he appears ready to take the next step.
“The fact that he’s now in game action is certainly a good sign,” Mendoza said. “We just want him to get at-bats in extended — hopefully we’ll get him some repos in the field and we’ll see how it goes from there.”
Jeff McNeil
McNeil has been feeling good over the first few days of his rehab assignment.
The slap-hitting infielder played a pair of games with the St. Lucie Mets late last week and he looked strong at the plate and in the field — going 2-for-5 while also drawing a walk and scoring a run.
He has Monday off and will return to action tomorrow night with St. Lucie.
From there, McNeil will go to Triple-A as he continues working his way back to the big-league club, but Mendoza says he still has to get more at-bats before they are ready for him to take that next step.
“He’s feeling good but those are tricky injuries, with the oblique,” he said.
With both Luisangel Acuña and Brett Baty struggling at the plate early on this season, getting McNeil back into the mix would certainly be a nice boost on both sides of the ball.
Francisco Alvarez
Alvarez was supposed to take his rehab assignment to Triple-A this week, but instead he’ll be heading to Double-A because of weather.
He’s expected to join the Rumble Ponies in Reading to take on the Fightin Phils on Tuesday.
The young backstop is a bit ahead of McNeil in his road back, as he started his assignment a few days earlier, but he still has a few steps to take before rejoining the big-league team.
While it’s more so about getting the reps than anything, Alvarez had just one hit in 10 at-bats with St. Lucie.
It’ll be interesting to see how the Mets handle the playing time when he returns with backup Luis Torrens shining with the bat and behind the plate in his absence.
Paul Blackburn
Blackburn is scheduled to throw two-ups in live BP on Tuesday, and if everything goes as planned he could begin a rehab assignment after that.
Mendoza said that the team is planning on building him back up as a starter, rather than using him as a reliever as they indicated towards the end of spring training — the goal is to get him around 70-75 pitches.
With their busy schedule ahead, the Mets are planning on inserting a sixth starter into the starting rotation as early as this weekend against the Cardinals.
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