MLB

Mets’ d’Arnaud heads to 7-day concussion DL

Mets catcher Travis d’Arnaud will have some time to clear his head and possibly find his batting stroke as well.

The Mets placed d’Arnaud on the seven-day concussion disabled list Thursday, retroactive to Wednesday, after d’Arnaud was hit by Alfonso Soriano’s backswing in the ninth inning of Tuesday’s game against the Yankees. D’Arnaud remained in the game but underwent concussion testing Wednesday after feeling symptoms.

“He stayed in the game,” Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said Thursday, before the Mets’ 1-0 loss to the Yankees. “There weren’t any strong indications of a problem that night. It was when he came back the next morning he had some lingering effects. When he began to exercise, those symptoms reemerged more strongly. It was a pretty clear indication.”

The Mets called up Juan Centeno from Triple-A Las Vegas to take d’Arnaud’s spot. Centeno, 24, caught Jacob deGrom on Thursday and went 0-for-2 with a walk.

The time away could help d’Arnaud, who has struggled mightily this season. He is batting a paltry .196 with three homers and eight RBIs. He is 6-for-38 over his last 11 games, and has struck out 11 times over that stretch.


Mets manager Terry Collins said his team will operate without a designated closer for the foreseeable future. The team released Kyle Farnsworth, who had been the team’s closer as late as Monday, on Wednesday night.

The Mets will use a combination of Jenrry Mejia, Jeurys Familia and Daisuke Matsuzaka to close for now.

“We’re going to designate each day a guy that we’re going to lean toward,” Collins said. “[Thursday night] would be Mejia.We’re not naming him the closer. With Jose [ Valverde] throwing two innings [Wednesday], we thought we’d go to a guy we knew would be good and fresh and Jenrry would be that guy [Thursday].”

Mejia seems like the top candidate to land the role on a regular basis. He was moved to the bullpen this week after starting seven games. The biggest question is whether his body can handle the rigors of being a closer.
“If we felt he was ready to go back-to-back days, possibly three days in a row he would be the guy, yes,” Collins said. “He is not at that stage yet.”


Farnsworth made it clear he was unhappy with the Mets on Wednesday and felt their decision to release him was unfair. Farnsworth went 0-3 with a 3.18 ERA and saved three games for the Mets.
“We had to make some choices,” Alderson said. “If you go back and look over the last 10, 11 appearances for Kyle versus somebody like Valverde there’s no real comparison there. We had to make a choice. It’s unfortunate that Kyle decided to elect free agency because I think we would have liked to have him in Las Vegas. That was his choice.”
Farnsworth felt the Mets released him to avoid paying him the $750,000 that would have been guaranteed if he was on the roster later this week. Alderson did not deny there was a financial consideration to the decision, but said the bigger factor was his performance.


Carlos Beltran underwent the same knee treatment that CC Sabathia had Thursday in Birmingham, Ala. but he can’t predict what effect it will have on the pitcher’s right hinge that was diagnosed by Dr. James Andrews as having degenerative issues and cartilage breakdown.

Sabathia was injected with cortisone and stem cells.

“It takes time, for me it takes time because I was coming from surgery,’’ said Beltran, who had right knee surgery after the 2009 season. “In his case I don’t know how long it would take.’’

Sabathia is on the DL after his right knee filled with fluid Saturday night in Milwaukee. *


Masahiro Tanaka is just the latest rookie right-hander to captivate New York and he’s managed to impress the previous one.

“Obviously, coming into the series, you know his numbers,” Matt Harvey said after watching Tanaka shut out the Mets on Wednesday. “He’s doing something right. He’s obviously dominating that league. He kind of showed us that he’s the real deal unfortunately. It was fun to watch as a fellow pitcher. He’s got pretty incredible stuff.”

While Harvey won’t have a chance to pitch against Tanaka anytime soon, he’s already doing research.

“I asked David [Wright] and I asked [Lucas] Duda what was the difference and they said he threw four or five different pitches and he threw all of them at any time,” Harvey said. “He was never over the middle of the plate with any of his pitches. He just went right after guys. … That was pretty impressive to see. Honestly, I wish I was on the other end of it, but maybe next year.”


When the Yankees signed Yangervis Solarte to a minor-league contract and invited him to spring training they believed he could help as a back-up infielder. Instead, after eight minor league seasons without a taste of the big leagues, Solarte started Thursday night’s action tied with Detroit’s Victor Martinez for the AL batting average lead at .336, before Solarte’s 0-for-4 dropped him to .325.

“I am not sure anyone could predict what he has done the last six weeks,’’ Joe Girardi said.


Thursday night’s 1-0 Yankees win was the first ever 1-0 game in Subway Series history.

The Mets called up left-handed reliever Josh Edgin to take Farnsworth’s roster spot. Edgin found out Tuesday night he would be coming up. That morning his second child was born — a daughter named Tenley.

“It was a very good day actually — a call up and a child,” said Edgin, who retired the only batter he faced Thursday.


Chris Whitley was put on the Yankees’ 25-man roster Thursday night and made his major league debut. He took the spot created by Beltran going on the 15-day DL. To make room on the 40-man roster for Whitley, right-handed reliever Bruce Billings was activated from the DL and designated for assignment.