Well, it looks like the decision to keep Ruben Tejada on the major league roster or demote him to Triple-A just got a little easier.

sources: ruben tejada is headed to DL due to injured quad. #mets

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) May 30, 2013

Tejada injured his quad while sliding for a popup in the ninth inning of last night’s 9-4 victory over the Yankees.

Omar Quintanilla was pulled from last night’s Las Vegas 51s game, and will likely join the Mets today to replace Tejada on the roster.

Cecchini is still a few years away.

Ruben Tejada has taken a big step back in his development this year. At times, he’s just been plain bad.

He’s hitting .209/.269/.264. He does have 10 doubles, which is good for second on the team, but that may speak more to the makeup of the roster than it does to Tejada’s extra base hitting ability. As a shortstop, a team will usually put up with a lack of offense as long as you play solid defense. But Tejada hasn’t done that.

He’s already made 8 errors (6 of them throwing) after making only 12 last year. A look at advanced fielding metrics, which is still somewhat of an inexact science, shows his rPM (Plus/Minus runs saved above average) at -7. I’m not going to pretend I know exactly how this is calculated, but it’s not good. His rPM last year was -3.

You don’t need a supercomputer to see how he’s struggled in the field, however.

It’s time for our second annual “Should The Mets Demote Ike Davis?” discussion. Rumor has it, demotion is once again a possibility for the struggling first baseman, just as it was last year at this time. Davis somehow pulled it together in June of 2012 and kept himself in the majors, finishing the season with 32 home runs. If it’s possible, Ike looks even more lost this year, however. Davis has a microscopic .487 OPS through 40 games this year. After his 40th game last year, he had a .518 OPS (which is only slightly less awful).

Adding insult to injury, Davis made a boneheaded play that cost the Mets at least one run in the first inning of last night’s game.

Also, according to Andy Martino of the Daily News, Ruben Tejada and Jordany Valdespin may be on the same flight to Las Vegas in the near future.

Meanwhile, there’s a new Mets minor league blog in town, created by the good folks over at Mets Merized Online. Check out their story on RHP  prospect Noah Syndergaard.

In the good news department, T-Shirt purveyor Darren Meenan has done a great job of organizing large groups of Mets fans to attend games at Citi Field. This past weekend, he got 505 Mets fans from all around the country (and from two other countries) to attend the three-game set at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

When all is said and done, isn’t that what baseball is about? People getting together to watch ballgames. Of course, it would be a lot more fun if the Mets were winning…

Ike Davis strikes out on Sunday during a key moment in the game.

OK, you’re probably reading the headline and thinking, “more like ‘Seven Guys Not Slumping at the Same Time is the Key to Mets Offense.'”  Yes, the Mets are not exactly the reincarnation of the 1927 Yankees.

They don’t have an ideal leadoff hitter or a steady center fielder or right fielder.  Ruben Tejada has been nearly as unspectacular with the bat has he has been with the glove this year, and Daniel Murphy, after a hot start, has slumped mightily.  On April 25th, he was batting .346/.388/.538.  Since then, he’s hit only .130/.161/.167.

It seems in late April, everyone went into a slump following their hot start.  But the Mets need a stabilizing presence in the middle of the lineup to mitigate poor performance from the rest of the team – let’s say…a power-hitting left-handed bat.  Someone like Ike Davis.

To paraphrase the cartoon version of Tim McCarver from an episode of “Family Guy,”  as good as the Mets were in the first half of this season, that’s how as bad as they’ve been now.

But at least Frank Viola‘s daughter Brittany did well.  Oh, right.

OK, here are the Blogs:

• Metszilla relays the news that Johan Santana will return without limits on Saturday.
• Amazin’ Avenue notes that on this date in Mets history, New York played the Cubs in the first night game in Wrigley Field history.
• Metsblog has a quote from Jose Reyes talking about Ruben Tejada.
• The Bitter Bill asks a few questions that must be answered for the benefit of the future of the Mets.
• Mets Police points out some of the good things the Mets do for their community.
• NY Sports World gives us several reasons (besides masochism) to continue to watch the 2012 Mets.

That’s all for today.  Enjoy today’s edition of “Lunch with the Mets,” and keep checking out Mets Today.

The first half of the 2012 season is in the can, and the Mets are a respectable 46-40, sitting in third place in the NL East, 5 games behind the Washington Nationals.  They’ve certainly exceeded expectations.  This year’s edition of the Mets is loaded with overachievers, like Ruben Tejada, Scott Hairston, Kirk Nieuwenhuis, and R.A. Dickey, as well as established veterans having bounceback seasons, like David Wright and Johan Santana.  They’ve had this success despite the early struggles of their bullpen, and the fact that they tend to play down to their competition (They’ve lost 7 games combined to the Astros and Cubs, each of whom have sub-.400 winning percentages).  And, unlike last year, the Mets are trade-market buyers at the midway point of the season.  So, fasten your seatbelts for half number two of the 2012 season.

The Blogs are strapped in:

• Kerel Cooper looks a the top 5 surprises of the first half.
• Metsblog reports that Jon Rauch was involved in a minor car accident.  No word if Duaner Sanchez was involved.
• Rising Apple plays the role of contrarian and suggests the Mets DON’T trade Justin Turner.
• Amazin’ Avenue has a recap of Sandy Alderson’s interview on SNY.
• MLB Trade Rumors heard the Mets have an interest in Rockies’ catcher Ramon Hernandez.
• New York Magazine takes a look at Williamsburg Night at Thursday’s Cyclones game.

Enjoy the All-Star game, and keep checking out Mets Today for all the latest Mets stuff in the second half.

Within the next 2-3 weeks, the Mets should be getting 3 key injured players back.  SS Ruben Tejada, C Josh Thole, and OF Jason Bay are all beginning to play rehab games this week.  So which players on the current major league roster will they replace?

In the case of Thole, the answer is simple – Either Mike “Grand Slam” Nickeas or Rob “Snap Throw to First” Johnson (whoever is sucking the most when the time comes) will be replaced.

Has Kirk done enough to stay on the big club?

When Tejada comes back, he would have replaced Vinny Rottino.  However, the injury to Justin Turner muddies the picture a bit.

Omar Quintanilla is likely to replace Turner on the roster.  If Tejada then replaces Quintanilla, the Mets will only have one player to backup second base, shortstop, and third base – Ronny Cedeno.  That’s assuming Cedeno’s minor quad strain doesn’t turn into a major pain in the posterior.  If the Mets decide they need 2 backup infielders, then Quintanilla would stay, and Rottino would be sent down after all.

For the sake of this post, let’s assume the latter will be the scenario.

With that in mind, the decision of whom to drop when Bay returns becomes complicated.  It’s doubtful the Mets will carry 6 outfielders, so someone is going to have to go.  Here are the candidates for replacement:

The 2012 Mets have gotten out of the gate with 7 wins in their first 10 games.  This is the fourth best start in their history –  the 1972, 1985, and 2006  teams went 8-2 in their first 10 games.  They continue on with game two of their series in Atlanta tonight.

Blog reaction:

• Rich Coutinho says the Mets’ fast start is due to their surprisingly effective starting rotation.
• Real Dirty thinks the Mets’ plan to show a video tribute to Jose Reyes when the Marlins are in town next week goes a little too far.
• Adam Rubin has a photo of the scoreboard at Citi…is that..are those…sabermetrics?
• Bleacher Report thinks 5 Mets will continue their early season success all year.
• Metstradamus doesn’t believe that was really Jason Bay out there last night, but rather a Tupacesque hologram of 2009 Jason Bay.
• Daily Stache wonders if it’s cruel to dress up a dog in a Mets jersey and force him to panhandle outside Citi Field.

The DOG days aren’t here yet, but Mets Today can HANDLE any news and analysis, even if we get PANned.

(I really apologize for that last sentence…)