David Wright (rib cage) and Tim Byrdak (left-knee stiffness) will travel to New York to be examined at the Hospital for Special Surgery on Monday.
Both are expected to receive cortisone injections, Sandy Alderson said -- an "ultrasound-guided cortisone shot" in Wright's case.
Terry Collins threw out an arthroscopic procedure as a possibility when speaking about Byrdak, in the sense that even if that occurred, Byrdak can miss as little as two weeks. Losing Byrdak for any part of the regular season would be difficult since the Mets to not have a clear-cut alternative as lefty specialist, although Collins insisted he expects Byrdak to break camp with the team.
"I told Tim this, this morning," Collins said. "And I don't know until they do their examination. But I had Mitch Williams in Houston my first year. He got scoped, and 10 days later he was in my office jumping up and down, showing me he was ready to go. I'm hoping that's what happens with Tim Byrdak."
Left-hander Daniel Herrera also is unavailable due to a back muscle injury.
Collins mentioned Garrett Olson and prospect Josh Edgin -- who is not even in major league camp, but is now listed on Collins' candidate board -- as left-handed alternatives if the Byrdak issue lingers. The manager added that prospect Robert Carson has a good arm, but "I don't know if he's quite ready yet." Chuck James has major league experience, too.
In Wright's case, Collins portrayed the New York visit as a route to upping his activity.
“We will find out more tomorrow when he sees the doctor,” Collins said. “Hopefully he will give us the go-ahead. David has been itching to take some swings. We’ll know more tomorrow where we stand. … He’s real close. He’s real close to doing baseball activities. But the last hurdle is they’ll decide in New York what the next step is.”
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