Lucas Duda to miss significant time with stress fracture in back

Mets first baseman Lucas Duda will be out for "awhile" after being diagnosed with a stress fracture in his lower back, manager Terry Collins told reporters Monday. Duda will miss a minimum of 4-6 weeks, but is expected to miss even more time as he recovers.

Duda, 30, has hit just .231/.297/.431 with seven homers in 39 games for the Mets so far this season. The team is reportedly planning to replace him with internal candidates Ty Kelly, Eric Campbell, Wilmer Flores at first base, but could obviously look to add a first baseman on the trade market at some point before the August 1 non-waiver trade deadline.

Duda joins team captain David Wright on the list of Mets dealing with significant back issues, though Wright is playing through his spinal stenosis and even offered to shift to first base in place of Duda. New York is also dealing with injuries to Flores (strained hamstring) and catcher Travis D'Arnaud (rotator cuff strain), meaning the club may be active in trade talks as they look to make a run back to the World Series.