According to reports, New York Mets top catching prospect Travis d'Arnaud could be headed to play with the club in the big leagues soon with incumbent catcher John Buck possibly headed to the paternity list within the coming days.
Buck's wife Brooke is expected to give birth either today or sometime this week, and d'Arnaud, 24, may be promoted to fill the void in the roster created by Buck.
d'Arnaud has had to battle injuries the last few years, most recently after he suffered a non-displaced fracture in his right foot in April during a Triple-A game. d'Arnaud has been rehabbing in the Gulf Coast League and reached Double-A Binghamton yesterday as he makes his return from the injury.
The Mets have other options in Triple-A such as Francisco Pena and Juan Centeno, so it wouldn't be a surprise if the team calls one of those two up instead to be the backstop in Buck's absence. Anthony Recker, who backs up Buck now, could possibly bump up to starting duty as well.
It wouldn't be hard to surmise that the Mets could call up d'Arnaud as he's on the 40-man roster, but the team may take a cautious approach since he's rehabbing an injury and they don't want to jeopardize his future as the team plans to have d'Arnaud catching top pitchers Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler for years to come.
d'Arnaud has only played in 19 games this year due to his injured ankle, and last year he only appeared in 67 contests due to a partial tear in his PCL. The catcher was drafted 37th overall in 2007 draft by the Philadelphia Phillies, and has played in 502 minor league games while compiling a .285 batting average with 67 homeruns and 302 RBIs.
The prospect was traded to the Mets in a deal that brought last year's NL Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dickey to the Toronto Blue Jays last December.
Buck would be on the paternity list for three days, but said he wasn't sure if it would be necessary. D'Arnaud went 0-for-4 and had a throwing error in Wednesday's rehab game
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