While his team boarded a flight to San Francisco for the start of a three game series, pitcher Shaun Marcum boarded another plane bound for St. Louis to be examined for numbness and tingling in his cold right hand. He will be visiting with the same specialist who diagnosed Dillon Gee with a damaged artery in his pitching shoulder and a blood clot. Ultimately it led to season ending surgery for Gee. For now, the plan is to use a four man rotation up to the All Star Break, and if Marcum ends up missing any significant time, Carlos Torres would be the primary replacement.
Meanwhile, lefthander Jon Niese will have an MRI on his left shoulder today, according to Adam Rubin of ESPN New York. This will be his second followup MRI and the Mets are hoping to see some improvement in his partially torn rotator cuff. They are obviously hoping to avoid surgery that would wipe out the rest of this season for Niese and probably a good chunk of 2014 as well. The hope is that this tear can heal and repair itself on it’s own.
Just before the weekend, Terry Collins addressed the media and revealed that both Justin Turner and Lucas Duda have not progressed from their intercostal strains. Both players have been out since mid June and there is currently no timetable set for their return as they both continue their rehab and physical therapy at the team’s complex in Port St. Lucie.
