Chris Flexen recalled from Syracuse, Ruben Tejada designated for assignment

Prior to Thursday night’s series finale against the Cleveland Indians, the Mets recalled right-handed pitcher Chris Flexen from AAA Syracuse. Rather than another pitcher, the Mets designated infielder Ruben Tejada for assignment to clear room on the 25-man roster.

In eight appearances—including one start—earlier this season, Flexen pitched 13 innings for the Mets, recording three losses while pitching to a 6.92 ERA (5.67 FIP), with an unsightly 13 walks against only 10 strikeouts over those 13 frames. In AAA, Flexen has a 4.30 ERA with 86 strikeouts over 73.1 innings.

After going with five bench players and seven relievers for several games, the move added an extra arm to the bullpen, perhaps necessitated by the extra work the pen put in up after Marcus Stroman was forced to exit after only four innings Wednesday due to hamstring tightness.

After a solid season in Syracuse, Tejada’s return to the Mets lasted all of eight days. Called up when Jeff McNeil went on the disabled list, Tejada went 0-9 over six games (two starts), as he appeared in his first games as a Met since suffering a broken leg due to Chase Utley’s dirty slide in the 2015 NLDS.