Terry Collins made a promise Tuesday that if the Mets played their scheduled game in that evening’s awful weather, one of the writers covering the team would be in left field before Yoenis Cepedes ever set foot on the wet grass.
Thankfully, it never got that far.
Although Cespedes, who had missed the previous three games with a sore left hamstring, was in the lineup posted in the Mets clubhouse, it was clear, given the weather, that Collins had no intention of playing his superstar.
“The question is, ‘Do you play Cespedes in this?’” the Mets manager said a little more than 90 minutes before the game with the Braves was postponed. “… If we don’t play in it we don’t have to worry about that question. … Is it worth taking the chance to possibly lose him for an extended period of time? Going back to what we saw a year ago when he had the quad issue and we gave him two days off and he re-injured it anyway.
“So this is a night where I’m not sure it’s the smartest thing in the world to play him.”
Previously, Collins had said Cespedes would have to pass a battery of on-field tests before he returned to the lineup. Tuesday’s weather made that impossible, but Cespedes had been given the green light anyway. Weather permitting, of course.
“We didn’t get outside so we’re going on his word,” said Collins. “He did some stuff in the weight room today. He did some things that were good enough for the trainers and the medical staff. But we didn’t get him outside to run him, by any means.”
Cespedes wasn’t the only injured starter deemed healthy enough to return. Travis d’Arnaud also was set to catch for the first time since April 19, when he left a game against the Phillies with a bruised right wrist. D’Arnaud, who pinch hit four times while waiting for the bruise to subside, said his wrist was “fine.”
“Get both those guys back is going to be big,” Collins said. “All of a sudden, you’re another one or two guys closer to having your regular lineup out there.”
Collins also said Jeurys Familia was going to be returned to his closer’s role if the opportunity presented itself Tuesday. The right-hander had been used in three non-save situations since his April 19 return from a 15-game suspension for violating MLB’s domestic violence policy. The manager said Familia’s return to the ninth inning — he had pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings — would stabilize the entire bullpen.
“[Pitching coach] Dan [Warthen] and I talked today about the role of Jeurys. Is he ready? We think he is,” Collins said. “All of a sudden now, I think these guys are going to walk through the doors each day and know what roles they’re going to be in.”
Tuesday’s game is scheduled to be made up as part of a single-admission doubleheader Sept. 25. … While the Mets chose to skip Robert Gsellman, Tuesday’s scheduled starter, so that Noah Syndergaard and Matt Harvey can stay in turn, the Braves will stick with ace Julio Teheran on Wednesday and R.A. Dickey on Thursday. That means crowd-favorite Bartolo Colon, who was scheduled to start Thursday, will not pitch in this series. … Collins said in the event of a rainout, Gsellman would be available out of the bullpen the next few days.