Associated Press
NEW YORK ó New York Mets reliever J.J. Putz had surgery to remove a bone spur and fragments of bone from his right elbow.
The Mets said after Tuesday’s operation that he is expected to start throwing in about six weeks. The team hopes Putz returns to games in 10 to 12 weeks.
Putz, acquired in the offseason from Seattle to be Francisco Rodriguez’s setup man, was put on the 15-day disabled list Friday after going 1-4 with a 5.22 ERA and two saves. Bobby Parnell (East Rowan) has taken over the eighth-inning role.
n NEW YORK ó Jose Reyes hit a ground ball to second base in extended spring training and tried to beat it out. After a few steps, he felt pain in right his leg.
“Like, you know, when you touch electricity,” he said.
Reyes has been sidelined with leg injuries for nearly all of the last month and still has no timetable to return. What was at first described as a strained right calf caused him to be held out at the start of a West Coast trip on May 14.
He missed five starts, returned, then aggravated the injury while running out a grounder May 20 at Los Angeles and hasn’t played since. He tore the hamstring while rehabbing on June 3 in Port St. Lucie, Fla., and returned to New York. He’ll remain here through at least the weekend.
“I think it’s a new injury,” he said. “A difference place, higher, around the same area.”
n NEW YORK ó David Wright and Chipper Jones insist they were just kidding.
A day after the Atlanta Braves star said the New York Mets third baseman told him he was frustrated by the spacious dimensions at Citi Field, Wright said his remarks shouldn’t be taken literally.
“That was me having a good time with Chipper because I saw the look on his face after, you know, hitting 800 feet worth of fly balls and no home runs,” Wright said.
Jones was so fond of hitting at Shea Stadium that in 2004 he named a son Shea. He went 4 for 7 last month in his first two games at Citi Field, where just 38 home runs were hit in the first 26 games, including 18 by the Mets.
Entering Tuesday, only San Francisco’s AT&T Park (27), Pittsburgh’s PNC Park (32) and Atlanta’s Turner Field (34) had allowed fewer home runs this year.
In the Braves’ 8-7, 12-inning win on May 13, Jones hit two of Atlanta’s seven doubles.
“It is the biggest park that I have ever played in in my life. It is a huge ballpark to center and right center and right field,” Jones told Sirius XM Radio on Monday. “You know, I actually feel sort of sorry for some of the guys out there because their power numbers are really going to take a hit; guys like David Wright, (Carlos) Beltran, (Carlos) Delgado. The days of them hitting 35, 40 homers ó they’re over. I juiced the ball just right of center field as hard as the good Lord can let me hit a ball, and it hit midways up the center field wall for a double.
“And every time there was a long fly out or a double that hit off the wall or something, David Wright would run by me and go, ‘Nice park.’ He’s a little frustrated with it, but on the flip side of that, you got a guy like Jose Reyes who’s liable to hit, in a healthy year, 25, 30 triples in that ballpark because if you split a gap you can run forever.”
DODGERS
LOS ANGELES ó Manny Ramirez visited his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates before their game against San Diego, popping into the clubhouse before a home game for the first time since his suspension for violating Major League Baseball’s drug policy.
Ramirez told reporters he isn’t going to formally address the media about what led to his 50-game ban because it’s in the past.
“I don’t want to be a distraction for this team,” Ramirez said. “What happened, happened. I spoke to (owner) Frank McCourt, I apologized, I spoke to Joe, my teammates and I’m ready to move on.
“I didn’t kill nobody, I didn’t rape nobody, so that’s it, I’m just going to come and play the game.”
PIRATES
ATLANTA ó Charlie Morton will get a chance to face his former team, a week after being dealt by the Braves to Pittsburgh.
The Pirates announced that Morton would be recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis to start against Atlanta tonight. Morton was traded to Pittsburgh along with two prospects for center fielder Nate McLouth.
WHITE SOX
CHICAGO ó The White Sox placed Bartolo Colon on the 15-day disabled list with inflammation in his left knee and purchased the contract of left-hander Aaron Poreda from Double-A Birmingham.
Poreda, 22, was the White Sox’s first-round draft pick in 2007. Although he will work from the bullpen, He was 5-4 with a 2.38 ERA in 11 starts with Birmingham.
“You don’t have as much time like a starter,” Poreda said. “but I’m excited to have the opportunity and looking forward to coming out of the bullpen.”