Mets' J.D. Davis goes on injured list with sprained left middle finger

ST. LOUIS — As much as he had hoped to avoid it, J.D. Davis hit the 10-day injured list Monday, his sprained left middle finger not healing fast enough for the Mets to risk playing shorthanded.

This is his second stint on the sidelines in less than a month. A bruised hand cost him 10 days in April.

That transaction came as a surprise before the Mets’ game against the Cardinals. Less than an hour earlier, manager Luis Rojas indicated that Davis was improving, albeit not enough to be in the lineup.

After the medical staff evaluated Davis, the Mets determined he was unable to hit and likely unable to play defense at full speed.

A few minutes after he was officially put on the IL, Davis was on the field at Busch Stadium, doing light drills with infield coach Gary DiSarcina.

To take Davis’ roster spot, the Mets promoted reliever Trevor Hildenberger, a sign of the Mets’ lack of depth. They have only three remaining position players on the 40-man roster they could call up: outfielder Khalil Lee, plus catchers Patrick Mazeika and Deivy Grullon.

It doesn’t help, of course, that the Mets lost their backup third baseman, Luis Guillorme, a day before Davis. Guillorme did some running and infield work as well Monday, and the Mets have been hopeful he can return when eligible Sunday.

Brandon Nimmo (bruised left index finger) was out of the lineup for a second day in a row. He is "improving but slowly," Rojas said.

Diaz is back

Less than 24 hours after leaving a game because of back tightness, Edwin Diaz said he was feeling mostly better. But he didn’t go as far as to say it is a total non-issue.

"I feel super good compared to yesterday," he said through an interpreter. "It is something I want to keep monitoring going forward, just so I can be able to go out there in games and have that same power, be able to throw the way that I want to throw."

Diaz felt tight while warming up Sunday, but he thought he could pitch through it. It got worse as he recorded two outs and allowed three runs — nearly four, but Rhys Hoskins’ flyball was ruled a double instead of a homer — in the ninth inning of an 8-7 win against the Phillies.

"As I kept throwing pitches, it started to get tighter and tighter," he said. "I felt like I could fight through it, but eventually it was stopping me from finishing my pitches and it felt like I was pulling back."

Pitcher(s) of the Month

Jacob deGrom’s season-opening excellence was formally acknowledged Monday when he was named the NL Pitcher of the Month.

In five starts, he had a 0.51 ERA and 0.57 WHIP, striking out a majors-leading 15.2 batters per nine innings.

His 59 strikeouts tied Nolan Ryan for most ever in a pitcher’s first five starts, and his RBI total as a batter (two) equaled his earned runs allowed total as a pitcher.

DeGrom is scheduled to start against the Cardinals on Tuesday.

The Yankees’ Gerrit Cole won the AL honor. He had a 1.43 ERA and 0.72 WHIP in six starts, averaging 14.8 strikeouts per nine innings.

Extra bases

After appealing, Phillies reliever Jose Alvarado got MLB to lower his suspension from three games to two. That is his punishment for inciting a benches-clearing episode against the Mets on Friday . . . Carlos Carrasco is scheduled for a six-inning simulated game Tuesday . . . The Mets sent reliever Daniel Zamora to the minors to make room for their Monday starter, lefthander Joey Lucchesi . . . The Cardinals pushed ace Jack Flaherty’s next start back a day to Friday, so the Mets will miss him in this series that ends Thursday. He has a 2.10 ERA in the past month.