PITTSBURGH – Billy Wagner won’t come off the DL as scheduled tomorrow and is headed back to New York to have the soreness in his left elbow checked out today.
The Mets were expecting to get their All-Star closer back for the final game of their series with the Pirates, but Wagner didn’t like how his elbow responded to a 20-pitch simulated inning here yesterday afternoon.
Wagner has been on the DL since Aug. 3 with a strained left forearm. Inactivity the first week after being put on the DL resulted in soreness in the elbow that left Wagner hesitant to rejoin the Mets as soon as the club had hoped.
“If I try to get back too early, then next thing you know, you either get hurt or screw it up,” Wagner said after the simulation. “Then you’re back to square one.
“You’ve got to give yourself the best chance. You don’t need anybody going in there trying to be a hero and hurting themselves more or putting the team in a bad situation.”
Tony Bernazard, the Mets’ VP of player development, said Wagner could pitch for Single-A Brooklyn as soon as tomorrow.
But such a prospect appears highly unlikely.
Ryan Church’s comeback is progressing so well that manager Jerry Manuel already is thinking about how it will impact the Mets’ outfield.
Church has been on the DL since July 6 with post-concussion syndrome, but played in his second consecutive minor-league rehab game yesterday and could be back in the big leagues by the end of the month.
Manuel said yesterday that resurgent veteran Fernando Tatis – not impressive rookies Daniel Murphy or Nick Evans – would likely be the odd man out when Church returns.
Murphy would likely continue to start in left against right-handers, with Evans or Tatis getting the nod against lefties. Murphy and Evans also came up as infielders and could get playing time there, too.