Mets’ Travis d’Arnaud will undergo Tommy John surgery

UPDATE: d’Arnaud will undergo Tommy John surgery and miss the rest of the 2018 season, the team announced Friday. They’ll rely on Jose Lobaton as the starting catcher now that Kevin Plawecki will miss 3-4 weeks with a broken hand.
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ORIGINAL: The Mets have placed catcher Travis d’Arnaud on the 10-day disabled list with a partial tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, the team announced. The club recalled catcher Tomas Nido from Double-A Binghamton to take d’Arnaud’s place on the roster.

d’Arnaud may need Tommy John surgery on his elbow. The Mets said they “will determine in the next several days” if the 29-year-old catcher will have to undergo the procedure, which will would end his season, according to Anthony DiComo of MLB.com.

d’Arnaud has dealt with a number of injuries since breaking into the big leagues in 2013. On top of his partial UCL tear, he has had a bone bruise in his right wrist (2017), inflammation in his right rotator cuff (2016), a hyperextended left elbow (2015), a broken finger (2015) and a concussion (2014). Even before he made the majors, d’Arnaud fractured his foot (2013), tore the posterior cruciate ligament in his left knee (2012) and had a herniated disk (2010).

d’Arnaud, who has played only 397 games in six years, has contributed to the Mets in spots during his career, particularly in 2015 when he slashed .268/.340/.485 with 12 homers and hit three homers in 14 postseason games while helping the club reach the World Series. Last year, he played a career-high 112 games while also hitting a career-best 15 homers and driving in 57 runs. This year, d’Arnaud has gone 3-for-15 with a home run and three RBI in 10 games, four of which he started. But, he has allowed seven stolen bases without catching a single runner.

For now, the Mets will look to Kevin Plawecki to pick up the load after splitting time with d’Arnaud to start this year. Plawecki, who shared time behind the backstop last year as well, has only slashed .158/.360/.211 in six games.