One guy is back, another is out, yet another is returning Saturday.
The Mets provided a bunch of intriguing tidbits Friday, beyond the big news that Jacob deGrom should start Sunday in his first appearance since Sept. 1.
Juan Lagares returned from thumb surgery and will serve in a limited defense/pinch running role. Wilmer Flores received a cortisone shot in his aching right wrist and said he would remain out “a couple days” more. Lucas Duda is expected to rejoin the team Saturday, limited also, after working in Florida and rehabbing a lower back stress fracture.
Alas, no word on a possible Mookie Wilson activation.
“I feel good right now. I can play defense, I can run, I can do a lot of things. I’m just here to help in anything I can,” said Lagares, who went on the disabled list July 29 for a partially torn thumb ligament. “Running, play defense … if I have to bunt, that type of stuff. But I think I can’t swing right now.”
Lagares said he likely would “start next week,” as far as gripping a bat.
“Doctors told us there was a time frame they thought would be involved,” manager Terry Collins said before the Mets’ 3-0 victory over the Twins at Citi Field. “It’s going to be tough for him to swing, but he gives us that option of a Gold Glover to come in late in the game and go play center field.”
Flores was scratched again Friday against the Twins. He banged up his wrist on a head-first slide home Sept. 10 and received the injection Thursday.
“Just inflammation. I got a cortisone shot. Doesn’t feel really good right now but hopefully, the next couple days it’ll feel better,” Flores said. “It’s frustrating, but what are you going to do? I can’t just go out there when I’m not feeling good. It’s hitting. … I’ve never had a wrist injury before. It shouldn’t take too long, but I really can’t swing right now.”
Duda went on the DL May 23. The powerful lefty can swing and hit.
“We wouldn’t bring him here if he couldn’t,” Collins said. But Duda will be limited.
“We are going to bring him back and try to pick and choose our spots for him to play because he hasn’t had any games at all, just live [batting practice] which we know the intensity level isn’t quite the same,” said Collins, who is targeting a Saturday return for Duda, who has seven homers in 39 games. “Lucas is ready. We’re going to bring him here this weekend probably and use him off the bench.
“I think it’s a little unfair to ask Lucas Duda to carry us, get in the middle of the lineup and do what we always hope and expect him to do,” Collins said. “We’ll try to get him in there in the right circumstances [and] if we feel he can help us in the lineup sometime, we’ll get him in there. But we’ve got to be smart enough to know we’re asking a lot of a guy that has not certainly faced live pitching, let alone major league pitching, in a long time.”
The Mets’ last 16 games cover five series against four teams that were a combined 88 games under .500 (Twins, -37; Braves -34; Phillies, -17; Marlins even; and Phils again).
Collins reiterated the team’s faith in the struggling Michael Conforto.
Asked to assess Conforto’s season, Collins said: “It’s not over yet, so certainly have not written Michael Conforto off yet. We’ve got games to play. We’ll see where he fits. But he is going to be the player we saw.”