According to Las Vegas 51s beat writer Betsy Helfand of the Review Journal reports infielder T.J. Rivera traveled to New York with catcher Kevin Plawecki. Because Rivera had been demoted to make room for Sean Gilmartin on the roster on April 14th, Rivera is not eligible to play in a major league game until Tuesday, April 25th against the Braves. That is unless the Mets put someone on the disabled list.
Given Travis d’Arnaud being limited to pinch hitting duty last night, Plawecki was activated before the game. However, the Mets held off on putting either Lucas Duda (elbow) or Wilmer Flores (infection) on the disabled list thereby preventing Rivera from being added to the roster. That led to the not ideal situation of Jay Bruce starting the game at first base and Juan Lagares serving as both the backup outfielder AND middle infielder.
With Yoenis Cespedes suffering a strained hamstring last night, the Mets found themselves in a position where Lagares had to enter the game leaving the team with no bench options by the sixth inning. In all likelihood, Cespedes will be unavailable for tonight’s game against the Nationals meaning the Mets have no bench options for the outfield or middle infield whatsoever.
At some point today, we should reasonably expect one player to be put on the disabled list in order to allow the Mets to officially call-up Rivera. Fortunately, he is already in New York, and he is ready to play.
