New York Mets catcher Travis d’Arnaud has been on the disabled list since April 26th with a rotator cuff strain. He has yet to resume baseball activities and is currently in California with his personal physical therapist trying to rehab through the injury. Howie Kussoy of the New York Post spoke with d’Arnaud’s agent, Mike Wolfe on the current situation.
Travis’ agent fully expects his client to be back working with the team within the next few weeks. No timetable though or plan has been set as to when d’Arnaud may resume baseball activities.
“I know it was envisioned he would only be here for a short stint, more in like the couple weeks range and if all goes we’ll just get him going and get him back out there soon,” Wolfe said. “He’s doing well. It’s just aggressive strengthening, range of motion because Travis really wants to get back out there and hit the ground running.”
D’Arnaud, 27, was in the midst to a rough offensive start to the season. He has batted to a slash of .196/.288/.261. Travis, when healthy, has the ability to be a big bat in this lineup, as he is mainly known for his offensive prowess. The hope is that having d’Arnaud work with his own trainer may speed up the process of his recovery.
“The Mets have a terrific training staff, but the issue is during the season their No. 1 priority is getting the active-roster guys ready to play every day, plus the team’s going on the road constantly,” Wolfe said.
“Everybody just wanted Travis to have a little more consistent program every day given the spot he was in. Everybody thought it might be good, just for a short stint, to do a certain level of exercises and strengthening and [physical therapy] and then he’ll be cut loose shortly back to the Mets program.”
Hopefully, sooner rather than later, d’Arnaud is able to get back out onto the field and contribute to this team in the way he is capable. With all of the constant injuries, there had been some talk of trying Travis at other positions. It will be interesting if this is something the Mets look to do, especially with Lucas Duda continuing to struggle mightily against left-handed pitching.
