The Mets have placed 31-year old righty swinging outfielder Scott Hairston on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to August 24th due to a strained oblique. Hairston has played in 79 games for the Mets so far this year and he is 31 for 132 (.235 avg, .773 OPS) with 20 runs scored, 7 homers, 24 RBIs and 1 stolen base. The Mets have called up 40-year old righty reliever/starter Miguel Batista to replace Hairston on the roster. Batista pitched in 10 games (8 starts) in AAA-ball for the Mets this year and he is 3-0 with a 4.24 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP. He has already pitched in 26 games (1 start) for the Cardinals this year and he was 3-2 with a 4.60 ERA and a 1.57 WHIP.

The Mets have placed 24-year old lefty starting pitcher Jon Niese on the 15-day disabled list due to a strained intercostal muscle. Niese has pitched in 27 games (26 starts) so far for the Mets this year and he is 11-11 with a 4.40 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP. He has given up 178 hits in his first 157 1/3 innings this year as he hasn’t been missing many bats. But, he has limited the damage by walking 44 batters and whiffing 138 batters this year. The Mets hope that Niese can return to the rotation in a couple of weeks, to help them finish out this year.

The Mets have placed 28-year old switch-hitting shortstop Jose Reyes on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left hamstring. Reyes has played in 98 games for the Mets so far this year and he is 144 for 428 (.336 avg, .884 OPS) with 80 runs scored, 5 homers, 37 RBIs and 34 stolen bases. Losing Reyes and Daniel Murphy at the same time could cripple the offense of the Mets as they have been by far the best two hitters on the team in 2011. The Mets have called up 21-year old righty swinging shortstop Ruben Tejada to take over at SS until Reyes is ready to return to action. Tejada played in 52 games earlier this year for the Mets and he was 42 for 168 (.250 avg, .612 OPS) with 13 runs scored, 0 homers, 19 RBIs and 1 stolen base. The Mets also called up 26-year old lefty swinging 1B Mike Baxter to replace Daniel Murphy on the active roster. Baxter has played in 15 games in A+AAA-ball for the Mets and he is 17 for 55 (.309 avg) with 6 runs scored, 1 homer and 9 RBIs.

The Mets have lost 26-year old lefty swinging 2B/1B Daniel Murphy for the rest of the season after he tore his left MCL in a game over the weekend. This is a big blow to the Mets as Murphy was having an outstanding season. Murphy played in 109 games for the Mets this year and he was 125 for 391 (.320 avg, .809 OPS) with 49 runs scored, 6 homers, 49 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. He has now played in 312 games in his first three years with the Mets and he is 300 for 1,029 (.292 avg, .782 OPS) with 133 runs scored, 20 homers, 128 RBIs and 9 stolen bases.

The Mets have lost 23-year old lefty swinging CF Kirk Nieuwenhuis for the rest of the season as he recently underwent season ending surgery on his left labrum. Nieuwenhuis came into this season as the Mets’ #5 prospect according to Baseball America. Nieuwenhuis played in 53 games in AAA-ball this year and he was 56 for 188 (.298 avg, .908 OPS) with 33 runs scored, 6 homers, 14 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. He has now played in 382 games in his first four years in the minors and he is 421 for 1,501 (.280 avg, .819 OPS) with 257 runs scored, 44 homers, 193 RBIs and 46 stolen bases. This is a bad break for Nieuwenhuis who was likely going to get his first taste of the majors later this year.