Mets Are Very Concerned About Asdrubal Cabrera

Cabrera was hurt Sunday while scoring from first base on Neil Walker’s two-out triple in the first inning. Still, he ran hard until touching the plate.

Asdrubal Cabrera had to be helped off the field, and now the Mets could be without their starting shortstop. Niese is expected to arrive in NY on Tuesday, at which point he’ll be activated and Cabrera will presumably be sent to the DL.

But judging by appearances, Cabrera could be the latest key Mets player to be shelved. He was out for a little over two weeks before returning in spring training. However, the one noticeable difference from now and in spring training was that the Mets didn’t have to carry him off the field.

The 30-year-old Cabrera began the day batting.255 with 13 homers and 33 RBIs in his first season with NY. Immediately after the game, Collins hadn’t yet huddled with general manager Sandy Alderson about what the Mets might do if Cabrera is lost to an injury.

Where the Mets go from here is to be determined within the next 24 hours; the team now has Jose Reyes on the 15-day disabled list, but upon his return, he theoretically could move back to his natural position of shortstop, leaving the third base job open for Wilmer Flores.

If the Mets don’t call Cecchini up, they would likely simply use Flores at shortstop and Walker at third base while calling up Matt Reynolds or Ty Kelly to serve as a backup.

Assuming Cabrera is placed on the disabled list, the Mets could look to Triple-A Las Vegas for bona fide shortstop Gavin Cecchini, a 2012 first-round pick.

Cespedes has been playing through a strained right quadriceps and left Saturday night’s rainy game after five innings when the nagging injury tightened up.