Mets Injury Report: Yoenis Cespedes, Travis d’Arnaud

Yoenis Cespedes and Travis d’Arnaud are expected to miss Tuesday night’s game against the Reds because of injury. That’s 25% of the starting lineup.

For Cespedes, it would be his fourth straight game on the bench. He originally bruised his right thigh on April 13 when he made that dive into the stands chasing a foul ball. He aggravated it on Friday in Atlanta and has been out ever since.

“At the moment, it’s on a day-by-day basis,” Sandy Alderson said. “Fortunately, we have the depth that we anticipated we would need, so we’ve been able to survive his absence over the last several days and I’m sure we’ll do our best to survive over the next two to three (days), but right now I don’t see it being a DL. That could change obviously, a medical opinion, as time goes on. But I don’t see that.”

Cespedes had some fluid drained from the leg on Monday. There is no structural damage, so an MRI is not necessary.

But an MRI could be necessary for d’Arnaud. He left Monday’s game complaining of shoulder soreness.

“I felt it bark up. So I decided to say something,” d’Arnaud said after the game. “I never experienced it before… Not concerned at all. It’s a sore shoulder.”

“He’s got a bad shoulder from throwing,” Terry Collins said. “That’s what we’re concerned about. Any time you talk about a shoulder problem with a catcher, that’s a problem.”

d’Arnaud was scheduled to have a full exam on Tuesday. If he has to go on the disabled list, journeyman Rene Rivera is expected to be called up. He was removed early from Monday night’s Las Vegas game. He would back up Kevin Plawecki.

Thus far the Mets have done quite well despite the absence of Yoenis Cespedes, winning all three games he has missed. But the Mets have been playing the Braves and Reds — neither a particular powerhouse. But losing both Cespedes and d’Arnaud at the same could result in a much weaker lineup. And with the Giants and their excellent pitching coming to town this weekend, it means the Mets equally vaunted pitching staff will have to be that much more stingy.

UPDATE

The Mets placed d’Arnaud on the disabled list Monday afternoon with a right rotator cuff injury.