Neil Walker dealing with knee issue, out of Mets’ lineup again

Second baseman Neil Walker is out of the Mets’ lineup again tonight, as he was on Wednesday night in Texas, with a knee issue. The team, which said it would scale back the amount of information it revealed about injuries, hasn’t said much about his situation other than Terry Collins’s remark on Wednesday that Walker could have played.

In his place, T.J. Rivera gets the start tonight, and if there’s an extended absence, the Mets have plenty of middle infielders who could potentially be deployed at second. Rivera is one, obviously, as are Wilmer Flores and Asdrubal Cabrera. The latter would make sense there if the team were to call up top prospect Amed Rosario, or if they make the far less appealing decision to insert Jose Reyes back into the everyday lineup.

After a slow start to the season, the switch-hitting Walker has been excellent lately. He’s now hitting .263/.333/.459 on the year with eight home runs and a 112 wRC+. Considering he had just a 57 wRC+ at the end of April, that’s pretty remarkable.