Mar
23
2012

Mets Notes: Wright, Hairston & Torres Making Progress, den Dekker Called Back

An article by Hojo's Mojo

The Mets assigned two more players to minor league camp Friday morning according to Adam Rubin. Infielder Josh Satin and right-hander Fernando Cabrera will now join left-handed reliever Chuck James who was also reassigned to the minors after yesterday’s game.

However this morning, Me3ts prospect Matt den Dekker has officially returned to major league camp. The move was prompted because of injuries to Andres Torres and Scott Hairston. As of this morning the Mets now have 38 players in camp.

There are now 37 players in major league camp.

Several players sidelined with injuries are making some progress and nearing a return to normal spring training activities and playing in Grapefruit League games.

Scott Hairston, who has been sidelined since the start of Grapefruit League play by a strained left oblique muscle, swung a bat 40 times on Thursday and later said that he was fit to continue ramping up his activities. He will be hitting off a tee today and it is now hopeful that he will avoid the DL and be ready for Opening Day.

“It went well,” Hairston said about Thursday’s dry swings. “I took about 40 swings and don’t feel any pain at all.”

Andres Torres is also progressing well and told reporters that his calf injury is improving and that he could be back soon. However, there are still no plans for him to run just yet. The Mets center fielder left the game on Tuesday with a calf strain, and has not played since.

Third baseman David Wright (remember him?) took batting practice yesterday for the first time since receiving a cortisone shot last week for an abdominal tear. Terry Collins told reporters that he expects Wright to “continue taking batting practice” and “perform light drills” for the next few days, after which he could play in his first Grapefruit League game at some point early next week.

Finally, Tim Byrdak, who underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his knee last week, said he will begin playing catch tomorrow and hopes to get back on the mound sometime next week. It was initially reported that the left-hander would miss up to six weeks.

That’s all for now….

About the Author: Rob Johnson

11 Comments + Add Comment

stick March 23, 2012 at 9:11 am

If you want a silver lining, I guess it could be that they mostly got the nagging injuries out of the way at the beginning of ST.

Still 2 weeks to go, and that is when managers traditionally want to see teh regulars playing every day, ramping up to game speed. So if the walking wounded can get back into ST games early next week, should be plenty of time to be ready for OD.

at this point, hairston seems to be the one most in risk of being out (barring setbacks of course), along with Byrdak. So if those are the only 2 that can’t go, it was actually a successful spring!
- Metstheory22 March 23, 2012 at 9:59 am
  
  Agree Stick. Does not hurt to see others up close in case they are needed down the line. I don’t think we will see den Dekker early but Collins seeing him now won’t hurt him down the line if he does well.
Metsie March 23, 2012 at 10:45 am

Of all the injuries, lets be honest…Wright’s is the only one that truly has any major loss associated with him missing time.

Hairston and Torres both being out costs us with the glove but neither hit so well that their missing bat affects us all that much.

Byrdak might put a little more workload on our Bullpen if he misses significant time but he also is not one of those players that is expected to get us in the playoffs or even keep us competitive.

The real injury loss would be Wright and Santana and Santana is not showing signs that the injury is bothering him lets hope that holds up!
- stick March 23, 2012 at 12:02 pm
  
  the real impact isn’t actually to the on field talent. It is the hit to the 40 man roster if you have to add a bunch of temporary guys.
  - trs86 March 23, 2012 at 12:13 pm
    
    True, might be some dead weight already on there though. I am not sure anyone is claiming Carrasco, LOL.
    - Metsie March 23, 2012 at 12:27 pm
      
      I wish they would we could save 1.2 Mil!
      Thats enough to get us another hairston at least!
    - srt March 23, 2012 at 12:35 pm
      
      Especially since he’s still dealing with an injury.
    - stick March 23, 2012 at 12:38 pm
      
      I actually keep forgetting he is even with the team now. Must be wishful thinking.
      
      I also suspect he isn’t making it out of ST, and you are correct, no one is likely to claim him.
srt March 23, 2012 at 11:15 am

Hoping one of Torres or Hairston will be back opening day or soon after.
If both miss significant time and they go with inexperience in CF, that could be a problem because of Duda’s inexperience in RF.
Des March 23, 2012 at 11:19 am

Metsie — In a best case scenario, a team’s defense has traditionally been built on defensive anchors ‘up the middle.’ So I’ll quibble a bit with you. Losing the best center fielder to injury has to hurt. Missing the bat will cost less than missing the glove, but ideally we don’t want to lose either. The impact on Duda playing with a less skilled center fielder is also not helpful. If the Mets counted on the 2010 Torres bat, the temporary hurt would be worse. Don’t underestimate Andres.
- Metsie March 23, 2012 at 11:50 am
  
  Des really no quibble here at all…
  My statement was based upon the team we planned having not so much the team we would WANT to have!
  
  By the same token the situation is exacerbated by the fact we have Murphy as the first line of defense up the right middle infield and what he doesn’t get to becomes the CF’s responsibility!
  
  You know who it’s really going to hurt the most?
  
  The Pitchers and the SB numbers!
  
  Thole is not exactly the most accurate thrower to 2B and with Murphy and his bad positioning and inexperience coupled by the possibility of an infielder playing CF that makes any SB attempt a guaranteed two base steal when it sails into CF!
  
  But my point was more taking into account what we planned to have so there really is no quibble between us on this point!
  Murphy was always going to be there, and neither Torres or Hairston is really going to make up for THAT fact!
  So it came down to bats and who knows Valdespin might even hit better than both hairston and Torres combined! LOL
  Making up some ground in an indiorect way! LOL

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