The hard news is this: 

The Mets have placed Yoenis Cespedes on the 10-day disabled list with a left hamstring injury. The corresponding move is that left-handed pitcher Sean Gilmartin joins the big-league club in Cespedes' roster spot for now. 

Further, first baseman Lucas Duda is beginning a minor-league rehab assignment, so he'll join the Mets soon, likely pushing Jay Bruce back to the outfield from first base. 

But, man, this is so much more than just hard news. 

As can be seen above, the disabled list under the new collective bargaining agreement is only 10 days. Anecdotally speaking, it seems like teams are being a lot more aggressive this season with placing players on the DL, and it makes sense.

In the case of Cespedes, though, the Mets saw him miss five days (three games) with the the hamstring injury and seemingly rushed him back. He was seen reacting poorly during batting practice Thursday and then left the game prematurely due to aggravating the hamstring injury that was apparently not fully healed. 

Don't believe me on the batting practice thing? 

Had the Mets placed him on the DL in the first place, Cespedes could have been back this coming Monday. It's possible he would have been fully healed by then. Instead, he could end up missing more than 10 days moving forward. 

The Mets have been ridiculed in recent years for poor handling of injuries (here's something I wrote on the matter in 2015), and it looks like history is repeating itself. 

Aside from the Cespedes issue, there are three more this season that at least deserve our scrutiny, given the track record. 

Young left-hander Steven Matz says he has been diagnosed with a strained flexor tendon in his throwing elbow. The Mets' doctors are reportedly "frustrated and flummoxed" because they can't seem to find anything.

Then there's Noah Syndergaard -- who throws harder than any other starter in baseball -- being pushed back from his scheduled start Wednesday to Thursday. At the time, the Mets said nothing was wrong with Syndergaard and that he would be good to go Thursday. Syndergaard told MLB.com and other reporters Thursday that he couldn't lift his arm above his head Wednesday and that's why he was unable to make his Thursday start -- when the condition didn't improve enough. 

So:

  1. The Mets lied Wednesday; and 
  2. They were holding out hope Syndergaard would wake up Thursday feeling fine.

Surely he wanted to take the ball, and who can blame a competitor like Syndergaard ... but shouldn't the team be more careful? 

UPDATE: Just a few days after refusing to undergo an MRI on his biceps, Syndergaard took the hill on Sunday against the Nationals ... and left the game in the second inning with a possible lat injury. Given all of the injuries we've already listed, losing their franchise ace is the last thing the Mets need. He'll now undergo an MRI to see what's wrong.

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Shouldn't the Mets be more careful with Noah Syndergaard? USATSI

Speaking of which, let's talk about Matt Harvey. He had Tommy John surgery in 2013 and then threw huge innings in 2015 as the Mets went to the World Series. I have no issue with that, as he's a big-time competitor and wanted to keep going. But heading into the 2016 season, surely his arm was overstressed. He was bad and then had season-ending surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome. 

Fast-forward to 2017, and Harvey has twice been asked to start one day earlier than originally planned -- once when Jacob deGrom was scratched due to a stiff neck and then to sub in for Syndergaard on Thursday. Note that Harvey was never pushed up to short rest, but pitchers in a rotation have a routine and prepare for specific days to start. After Harvey's outing Thursday -- in which his velocity and command were diminished after the first inning -- he said that he had worked out pretty hard Wednesday and didn't know he was going to start Thursday until three hours before the game, per Newsday.

Again, this is a guy who had two major arm surgeries in four years. He's not going to say no because he's a competitor and wanted to help the team. Where is the management? 

This doesn't mean Syndergaard or Harvey are going to suffer serious injuries, but the way the Mets have handled the situations seems rather poor, especially given their track record. They no longer deserve the benefit of the doubt here, as was illustrated this week with Cespedes and was already evident going back to at least 2015 and probably three or four years earlier.