Jay Bruce shut down for 10 days after suffering setback with strained right hip

Jay Bruce suffered a setback with his strained right hip, causing the Mets to shut him down for 10 days.

Tuesday was day three of that stretch, manager Mickey Callaway said. That means Bruce won’t restart a running program or baseball activity for at least another week.

“He started baseball activity, started feeling some stuff in his hip, and [the medical staff] recommended that he get shut down for a 10-day period and kind of reassess him after that,” manager Mickey Callaway said.

The continued pain didn’t necessitate any further tests on Bruce’s hip, Callaway said.

Bruce landed on the disabled list with the hip issue June 19 after trying to play through it. He played catch in the outfield during batting practice Tuesday at Citi Field.

Pitching plans

Noah Syndergaard (strained right index finger) will return Friday night against the Nationals, Callaway said, as long as his bullpen session Wednesday goes well.

The next step for Jason Vargas (strained right calf) is less clear. He allowed one hit in six shutout innings in a rehab start for Short-Season Class A Brooklyn Monday, but he might have been too good for his own good, throwing only 64 pitches.

The Mets are deciding between another rehab outing or bringing him back this weekend. He would be lined up for a start Saturday on normal rest.

“We’d like to get him built up a little bit more,” Callaway said. “We’re going to obviously talk to him today and try to figure out if he needs more rehab outings or if he’s available to pitch for us. We’ll make that determination after we talk to him and see his bullpen the following day.”

Extra bases

Callaway on lefthanded specialist Jerry Blevins being far more effective this season against righties (.150/.292/.250) than lefties (.318/.392/.523): “That’s hard to explain . . . He’s been fantastic, probably one of our better guys against righties the whole season.” . . . To make room for righthander Drew Gagnon in advance of his major-league debut Tuesday, righthander Paul Sewald was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas.