Jason Bay left the second game of yesterday’s doubleheader after injuring his ribs attempting a diving catch and today the Mets put him on the disabled list with a non-displaced fracture.
No timetable yet for his return, but at the very least a non-displaced fracture is better than a displaced fracture and Adam Rubin of ESPN New York reports that surgery likely won’t be necessary.
Third baseman/first baseman Zach Lutz was promoted from Triple-A to take Bay’s roster spot, but Scott Hairston and perhaps Mike Baxter figure to see most of the action in left field.
New York is also hoping to get Andres Torres back from the DL relatively soon, in which case the Mets could also use current center field fill-in Kirk Nieuwenhuis as a left fielder.
Bay has been such a huge disappointment since signing a four-year, $66 million deal with the Mets two offseasons ago that losing him to the DL may not seem like much of a loss at all, but he’s actually tied for the team lead with three homers and has posted a solid .776 OPS in 15 games.