Drew Smith heading to the injured list

The Mets are expected to place right-handed reliever Drew Smith on the injured list tomorrow, retroactive to Monday, according to reporting from Tim Britton and Ken Rosenthal in The Athletic. The nature of the injury is unclear and is currently being referred to as an “unspecified arm issue.” Smith did not pitch in either of the two games against the Yankees and Buck Showalter indicated that his bullpen options were limited in last night’s game. After a strong start to the season, the oft-injured Smith has struggled since mid-May and has nearly matched his career high in innings pitched in a season at the major league level.

This is obviously a huge blow to the Mets bullpen, which is already lacking a reliable setup man for Edwin Díaz. However, Trevor May—currently on a rehab assignment—is due to return to the team next week. The Mets have already made it clear that they are seeking bullpen help at the trading deadline and have recently been linked to Cubs’ closer David Robertson. But with Smith sidelined, the Mets will likely accelerate their quest to add “multiple relievers” at the deadline.

In other trade deadline news, the Angels are “entertaining” offers for two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani, according to reporting from Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman the New York Post, but it would still take a massive offer to get a blockbuster deal done. The Mets are not specifically mentioned in this report, but we know that GM Billy Eppler has contacted the Angels about Ohtani and played a big role in bringing Ohtani to the Angels in 2017.

Also mentioned in The Athletic report along with Trevor May’s return being penciled in for Wednesday of next week is that Jacob deGrom is rejoining the team to make his season debut on Tuesday against the Nationals and that James McCann is due to return on Thursday, as the Mets seek reinforcements from within and without.

Update: Since this article was published, Drew Smith’s injury has been diagnosed as a right lat strain.