Hansel Robles to DL, Rainy Lara promoted from Savannah to Port St. Lucie

While most of the day's Mets player movement talk has centered around a certain slumping first baseman, some more pressing news has arrived from the minor league ranks. Namely, the club has made a pair of corresponding transactions revolving around two of their better low level pitching prospects.

First, the Mets placed St. Lucie's Hansel Robles on the disabled list for the second time this season; no details have been released as of yet as to the nature of the injury.

His first stint owed to an upper-back injury, which cost him a couple of starts at the end of April. The 22-year-old righty, who was added to the 40-man roster this winter, is currently posting a 3.38 ERA with 32 strikeouts in 34.2 innings pitched.

Subsequently, Rainy Lara -- a 22-year-old right-handed pitcher who had a 2.91 ERA with the Brooklyn Cyclones last season -- has been promoted to Port St. Lucie and the High-A Florida State League.

RHP Rainy Lara has been promoted from Savannah to St. Lucie. Kevin Plawecki remains a Sand Gnat for at least another day.

— Toby Hyde (@tobyhyde) May 23, 2013

Lara has basically done the same thing to the South Atlantic League that Rafael Montero is doing to the Double-A Eastern League this year. In eight starts, Lara has a 1.42 ERA with 51 strikeouts and just 6 walks. He's come out of relative obscurity to become an interesting pitching prospect for the Mets, so it will be interesting to watch how Lara fares at the next level.