NEW YORK — Already running low on pitching, the New York Mets added starter Paul Blackburn and reliever Dedniel Núñez to a crowded injured list Thursday in their latest flurry of roster moves.
Núñez has a right elbow sprain and could require Tommy John surgery for the second time in his career. Blackburn was given medication for a right shoulder impingement and won’t throw for three to five days.
“Hopefully that calms the discomfort there a little bit and we’ll get him going, so that’s relatively good news,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “As far as the rotation goes — one day at a time. Got to get through today and see where we’re at for tomorrow and then for the weekend.”
Blackburn (0-3, 7.71 ERA) had been lined up to pitch in the Subway Series this weekend against the New York Yankees at Citi Field. Now, the Mets are undecided for Friday and Sunday — with Frankie Montas scheduled Saturday to make his third start this season since returning from a lat strain.
“I think every option is on the table and we’re discussing all of them,” Mets President of Baseball Operations David Stearns said. “We’re going to evaluate everything. We’ll get through it. I do think we have options to get through this, and this is more of a short-term need than a longer-term need.”
Five of New York’s top eight starting pitchers are on the injured list, though left-hander Sean Manaea and right-hander Kodai Senga appear to be on the mend.
Stearns said he’d prefer not to call up one of the team’s highest-rated prospects, such as Brandon Sproat or Nolan McLean, for a spot start.
“I also understand this is a unique circumstance and I can’t take anything off the table right now,” Stearns said. “But my preference would be to figure out a way to do it without doing that.”
Manaea (oblique, elbow) and Senga (right hamstring strain) are both nearing a return, though neither is quite ready to rejoin the tattered rotation. Mendoza said it’s possible one or both could come off the injured list during the last weekend before the All-Star break, July 12-13 in Kansas City.
They are among 12 Mets pitchers on the IL, including fellow starters Tylor Megill (elbow sprain) and Griffin Canning, who is out for the season after rupturing his left Achilles tendon last week.
With the pitching staff ravaged recently following a terrific start, New York had lost 14 of 18 heading into Thursday night’s game against Milwaukee.
“We feel good about where Senga is in his process. We feel good about where Sean is, getting back. And so, clearly this weekend we’ve got some decisions to make. Then we have an off day and we get into next week and it becomes a little cleaner,” Stearns said.
Senga threw a bullpen Wednesday and was running and going through fielding practice Thursday. The goal is for him to make a rehab start for Double-A Binghamton on Saturday or Sunday, according to Mendoza.
Manaea has been sidelined since spring training with a right oblique strain, and his most recent rehab outing was pushed back because of elbow discomfort attributed to a bone chip. But he received a cortisone shot and threw 60 pitches over three innings Wednesday evening for Binghamton against Hartford.
Assuming he feels good, Manaea is expected to make one more minor league start next Tuesday and then perhaps pitch for the Mets on July 13 at Kansas City in the final game before the All-Star break.
“It is a possibility,” Mendoza said. “Ideally, yes. But again, we’re going to take it one day at a time, one outing at a time.”
New York recalled right-handers Austin Warren and Justin Hagenman from Triple-A Syracuse, and selected the contract of right-hander Rico Garcia. All three were in the bullpen for Thursday night’s series finale versus the Brewers.
Right-hander Blade Tidwell was optioned to Syracuse after throwing 4 1/3 innings in relief Wednesday night to earn his first major league victory in the second game of a split doubleheader.
Blackburn was placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to Monday.
With the bullpen taxed so heavily lately, the Mets put him back on the mound following an 89-minute rain delay Saturday in Pittsburgh — and Mendoza acknowledged he thinks that led to the pitcher’s injury.
When the game resumed, Blackburn gave up five consecutive singles to start the bottom of the second inning before he was removed.
“Obviously, we knew we were asking a lot. But the whole time we were asking feedback from him. He kept throwing, and we knew and he knew that we were only going to ask him for another 35 pitches, right?” Mendoza said.
“But yeah, I think it has something to do with it. You hate to see it, but it’s where we were at at the time. And again, the back and forth with him, with the trainers, and we just felt like even though it was an hour and a half — you know, it wasn’t an easy decision. And here we are now.”
Núñez (0-0, 4.66 ERA) also landed on the 15-day IL as the Mets wait for multiple doctors to review imaging before a plan for the right-hander is determined.
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