New York Mets news and notes as the season winds down

Here are some Mets news and notes from Monday, Labor day.

Today at Sun Life Stadium in Miami, Ike Davis spoke with reporters and said he was in Port St. Lucie this past weekend participating in baseball activities, and is pain free.Davis said he will workout for the next two days with the team in Miami and will then shut his activity down for a month to allow for further recuperation. The team will move him to the 60 day disabled list.

In addition, Johan Santana visited with the team in Miami today, and told reporters he will pitch in another rehab game this Friday either with Single-A St. Lucie or with Savanah in the South Atlantic League. He could rejoin the Mets sometime after that, as the minor league season will have concluded at that time.

Also, assistant GM John Ricco spoke with reporters and said Jon Niese is still experiencing pain in his side when he sneezes, and is therefore not close to returning.  The Mets have had some crazy injuries this year as well as the last couple of years, this is something that really has to be addressed in the off season.

Meanwhile, the Mets announced they have recalled outfielder Mike Baxter and selected the contracts of righthanded pitcher Chris Schwinden and first baseman Valentino Pascucci from Triple-A Buffalo. Baxter will wear #23, Schwinden will wear #63 and Pascucci will wear will wear #15. All three players will join the team in Florida tomorrow.

Schwinden, 24, was the Mets’ 22nd round pick in the 2008 First-Year Player Draft. He was 8-8 with a 3.95 ERA (64 earned runs/145.2 innings) with Buffalo this season. He allowed 138 hits, issued 48 walks and struck out 134 batters. According to Adam Rubin of ESPN New York, Schwinden could start one of the games in their doubleheader against the Braves on Thursday.

Pascucci, 32, hit .259 (114-440) with 58 runs scored, 29 doubles, one triple, 21 home runs and 91 RBI in 129 games with the Bisons this year. He appeared in 32 major league games with the Montreal Expos in 2004. He hit .177 (11-62) with six runs scored, two home runs and six RBI.

Thanks to metsblog.com for providing some of the information here about the Mets.  They do a great job over there and if you aren't familiar with the work should check it out.