Pelfrey diagnosis still up in the air

What exactly is the cause of Mike Pelfrey’s elbow swelling? That question is still up for debate. In an interview with Mike Francesa on WFAN yesterday, Mets general manager Sandy Alderon said the following:

“We not sure what the final diagnosis will be, but there is certainly swelling in that elbow. We should know something more concrete in the next couple of days. This is not something will go away in the next couple of days, so we put him on the disabled list.”

However, in a post made just before the start of last night’s game versus Miami, Adam Rubin of ESPN New York issued a much more grim report.

Mets officials are aware that Mike Pelfrey has suffered a partial tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow and are bracing to lose the right-hander to season-ending surgery, a major league source told ESPNNewYork.com.

Well, that would be horrible. Not only is Pelf off to a wonderful start this season, but I am just not ready for multiple Chris Schwinden outings. Nothing is official yet, so we’ll just have to sit back and hope that Pelfrey has not actually torn his UCL.

If it does turn out that Pelfrey has to miss the rest of the season, I’m guessing that Matt Harvey will replace Schwinden once the hot prospect is deemed ready for major league duty. It’s possible that Schwinden does make more than a handful of starts, but he’d probably need to pitch really well in order to hold off Harvey. All this is still hypothetical, though, so keep your fingers crossed.

Ice cold Davis

Meanwhile, Terry Collins says he still believes in Ike Davis despite the young first baseman’s ghastly beginning of the season. Davis has struck out a ridiculous 21 times in 65 plate appearances and is hitting .131/.185/.279 on the season. He does have three home runs so far.

I think most Mets fans (including myself) believe in Davis’ future with the Mets, but right now the question seems to be whether the Mets should let him play through this slump or demote him to the minors, where he can work out of it without hurting the big league club. The question is sparked by Atlanta’s decision to send Jair Jurrjens to AAA after a few lousy starts despite the right-hander’s record of success at the MLB level. There was also the surprise move by Collins to pinch hit for Davis in the seventh inning last night when Miami brought in a lefty pitcher.

I’m fine with the way Collins is handling the situation right now. Davis has done enough in the majors that you have to figure he can break out of this slump at any moment. While we’re waiting, though, it doesn’t hurt to pinch hit for him a couple of times or even start Zach Lutz at first when a tough lefty is on the mound. It will be interesting to see if Davis is in the lineup tonight versus Mark Buehrle.