Lucas Duda to resume rehab assignment

Lucas Duda is getting closer to a return to the big league club, as reports suggest he will head to extended spring training before resuming his rehab assignment in Port St. Lucie early next week. Duda had been placed on the 10-day disabled list with a hyperextended left elbow, suffering the injury fielding a throw on April 19. He then subsequently re-injured the same elbow on his first rehab assignment, feeling a twinge in his first rehab game with the High-A St. Lucie Mets.

Duda is coming off an injury-plagued 2016 that saw him play in only 47 games due to a stress fracture in his back. The first baseman was hitting .238/.360/.571 at the time of his elbow injury, and will look to make it through his second rehab assignment successfully. The Mets will surely welcome his power bat back with Yoenis Cespedes still without a timetable to return and Curtis Granderson still struggling to get his bat going.