28-year old closer Francisco Rodriguez will miss the rest of the season as he needs surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right thumb. Rodriguez hurt his thumb while punching his girlfriend’s father after a Mets’ game. K-Rod pitched in 53 games (0 starts) for the Mets this year and he was 4-2 with 25 saves, a 2.20 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP. He whiffed 67 batters and only allowed 45 hits in 57 1/3 innings this year. The Mets will likely go with a trio of pitchers to replace K-Rod as the closer depending on matchups. 35-year old lefty Hisanori Takahashi got his first major league save last night. He has pitched in 35 games (12 starts) for the Mets this year and he is 7-6 with 1 save, a 4.16 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP. He is the one guy of this trio who can get out batters from both sides of the plate. 33-year old lefty Pedro Feliciano is pretty tough on lefties. He has pitched in 65 games (0 starts) this year for the Mets and he is 3-6 with a 3.05 ERA and a 1.74 WHIP. The lone righty of the bunch is 25-year old Bobby Parnell. Parnell has pitched in 25 games (0 starts) for the Mets this year and he is 0-1 with a 3.68 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP. The Mets will definitely miss K-Rod the rest of the year.

The Mets have placed 31-year old righty swinging LF Jason Bay on the 15-day disabled list with a concussion. Bay has played in 95 games this season for the Mets and he is 90 of 348 (.259 avg, .749 OPS) with 48 runs scored, 6 homers, 47 RBIs and 10 stolen bases. The Mets have recalled 31-year old lefty swinging outfielder Jesus Feliciano to replace Bay on the active roster. Feliciano has played in 21 games earlier this season for the Mets and he was 16 of 55 (.291 avg, .667 OPS) with 7 runs scored, 2 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Angel Pagan will likely shift from RF to LF while Bay is out of action. That will likely put Jeff Francoeur back into the starting lineup in RF for the Mets.

The Mets have placed 34-year old starting catcher Rod Barajas on the 15-day disabled list with a left oblique strain. Barajas has played in 73 games for the Mets this year and he is 56 of 246 (.228 avg, .685 OPS) with 30 runs scored, 12 homers and 34 RBIs. 23-year old lefty swinging rookie Josh Thole will likely take over as the starting catcher while Barajas is out of action. Thole has played in 18 games for the Mets so far this season and he is 13 of 31 (.419 avg, 1.048 OPS) with 3 runs scored, 1 homer and 6 RBIs. The Mets have recalled 32-year old righty swinging 1B/3B/OF Mike Hessman to replace Barajas on the active roster. Hessman has played in 65 games in rookie+AAA-ball this year and he is 70 of 252 (.278 avg, .925 OPS) with 44 runs scored, 18 homers and 58 RBIs. He has 329 career homers in the minors over 15 seasons there. Hessman has also played in 77 games in parts of four years in the majors and he is 35 of 168 (.208 avg, .752 OPS) with 23 runs scored, 13 homers and 27 RBIs. The Mets are saying that they are going to play Hessman quite a bit while Barajas is out of action but I find that hard to believe.

The Mets have lost 29-year old righty starting pitcher John Maine for the season due to surgery to clean out scar tissue in his right shoulder. Maine only pitched in 9 games (all starts) for the Mets this year and he was 1-3 with a 6.13 ERA and a 1.82 WHIP. In his seven years with the Mets, Maine has pitched in 97 games (96 starts) in which he is 39-32 with a 4.17 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP. The Mets were depending on Maine to be one of their top starters this season so it’s kind of a surprise to see them still contending for the playoffs. Rumors have it that the Mets won’t tender a contract to Maine over the winter ending his time in New York and making him a free agent.

The Mets are looking at activating 33-year old switch hitting CF Carlos Beltran around July 15th. Beltran is rehabbing from knee surgery in A-ball right now. He has played in 9 games in the minors so far this season and he is 12 of 32 (.375 avg, .901 OPS) with 2 runs scored and 4 RBIs. Beltran has played in 677 games in his first five years for the Mets and he is 720 of 2,560 (.281 avg, .873 OPS) with 469 runs scored, 127 homers, 466 RBIs and 94 stolen bases. The Mets are counting down the days until they get Beltran back as it will be like getting a impact player at the trade deadline without giving anything up.