March 16, 2013; Port St Lucie, FL, USA; New York Mets catcher Travis d

Unfortunately, he failed to see the “Handle With Care” sticker on the young backstop.

According to Andy Rubin of ESPN New York, the 24-year-old catcher, who the Blue Jays sent to New York as part of the R.A. Dickey trade, broke the first metatarsal bone in his left foot on Wednesday night. d’Arnaud was fitted with a walking boot and is scheduled to undergo further examinations on the foot in New York on Friday.

This is the second straight season where d’Arnaud suffered a sizable injury while playing in Las Vegas. d’Arnaud tore the posterior cruciate ligament in his left knee while playing for the 51s, then a Blue Jays affiliate, on June 25th of last season. He would miss the remainder of the year.

Prior to the injury, MLB.com’s 6th ranked prospect was hitting .250 with 1 home run, 8 RBI, and a .907 OPS for New York’s Triple-A affiliate.

During his yearly prospect rankings, Jonathan Mayo even went as far at to note how much injuries have cost d’Arnaud.

If it hadn’t been for some injuries, talk about d’Arnaud as a prospect would have long been a thing of the past and the buzz would be about him as one of the bright young catching stars in the big leagues.

d’Arnaud was traded, along with Noah Syndergaard, Wuilmer Becerra, and John Buck, in the deal that brought R.A. Dickey, Josh Thole, and Mike Nickeas to the Toronto Blue Jays on December 17, 2012.

Here’s to hoping the TdA recovers nicely and is able to get past this injury bug. It would be a shame to see all that talent go to waste on the sidelines.

Here are some other fun facts from tonight’s game:

• After 1839 career plate appearances and 598 games, this was the first multi-homer game of Rajai Davis‘ career
• J.P. Arencibia set a new career-high with six RBI, surpassing his previous high of five set back on April 1, 2011 against Minnesota
• Tonight was just the 17th time in Arencibia’s career that he’s hit fifth in the order
• The Jays scored 14 runs, which were not only a season-high but their most since scoring 16 against the Yankees on July 14, 2011
• The Jays now have 11 home runs in their last three games, and their total of five tonight was their highest in one game since September 30, 2010
• Toronto entered play tied with the Cardinals for fourth in the Majors with 51 home runs, and after five tonight, they’re two back of the Yankees for third-most in the Majors
• All but one of the Jays’ 14 runs came from the bottom half of the batting order
• Yan Gomes homered in just his second MLB game, and after becoming the first Brazilian-born player to play in the Majors last night, he (obviously) became the first Brazilian player ever to hit a big league home run
• Tonight marked the third consecutive outing in which Ricky Romero has walked at least four batters
• Coming into tonight’s game, The Blue Jays pitching staff as a whole led the Majors with 151 walks. After eight more tonight, they still lead the Majors with 159
• As friend of the site @SMcEwen_eh pointed out to me on Twitter, this was the sixth game this season where Jays pitchers collectively issued eight walks
• The Jays’ bullpen entered the game tied for third-worst in the Majors with a collective WAR of zero. Allowing four unnecessary runs tonight certainly won’t help
• After losing the closer’s role, Francisco Cordero tossed his fourth consecutive scoreless inning

- JM

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Jared Macdonald: David Wright has been on fire. He has always been good, but what do you feel is the biggest difference this season from his career-worst campaign last year?

Vinny Cartaglia: I don’t think it’s one specific thing for Wright.  Some believe its the dimension changes at Citi Field.  You can point to the slight changes he has made in his stance; which allow him to get his hands through the hitting zone much quicker.  But, the bottom line is, he’s a pretty awesome baseball player who is entering his prime. And so, we are finally seeing Wright become the superstar we envisioned he would be.

JM: The Mets’ bullpen, which includes 2011 Blue Jays Frank Francisco and Jon Rauch, was called “a frustration” by GM Sandy Alderson last night. What do you think needs to happen to get it back on course?

VC: Short answer. They need to pitch better.  And, Sandy’s right. It has been frustrating to watch.  To blow two games in the bottom of the ninth to a division foe can definitely be described as frustrating. With the team playing well they can not afford to blow games in the late innings. And so, if it continues I am sure roles will get shuffled in the late innings.  With the Mets adding a second lefty to the pen, they could turn to a combo of Rauch Francisco, and LH Tim Byrdak for the 7th and 8th innings and letting Bobby Parnell take a crack at closing. It’s still only May. And both  Rauch and Francisco have shown stretches that they can get the job done. Maybe, what they (Rauch and Francisco) need is to get their confidence back in order to get on track.

JM: How nice has it been to have Johan Santana back in the rotation?

VC: I was one of the more pessimistic fans on Santana.  I never would have imagined that he would not only be on the mound, but pitching as well as he is.  It’s just a shame that the team can’t win any games for him.  Which has been the story during his Mets tenure.  If he had any luck he could easily be 4-2 or 5-1 instead of 1-2.  But to watch him on the mound has been great.  He’s such a presence and a leader in the locker room. Whenever he toes the rubber, as a fan, you have confidence the team will win that night.

Stoeten over at DJF also did a Q&A with SNY.tv’s Ted Berg, so make sure to check that out as well:

Image courtesy of Buffalo Sports Daily

A little over two weeks ago, I touched on a report that progress was being made in bringing professional baseball back to Ottawa, likely in the form of a Double-A Eastern League franchise. In that article, two scenarios that were presented were either moving the Jays’ existing Double-A affiliate, the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, to the nation’s capital, or that the New York Mets’ current Double-A club, the Binghamton Mets, were going to head north instead.

According to the Ottawa Citizen as of yesterday, not only does it appear that the possibility of a Double-A franchise in Ottawa is inching closer to a reality, but that the Jays and Mets would, in essence, swap Double-A affiliations at the end of the 2012 season.

In light of a few other recent reports, though, the Jays could very well have minor league franchises in both Ottawa and Buffalo in 2013.

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Image courtesy of MLB.com

#22: Darin Paul Mastroianni

Center Fielder / 25 years old / 5′11″ 190 lbs

Born: August 26th, 1985 in Huntersville, North Carolina

Bats: Right    Throws: Right

High School: Fox Lane H.S.

College: University of Southern Indiana

Drafted By: The Toronto Blue Jays in the 16th round (505th overall) of the 2007 First-Year Player Draft

Jersey Number: #23 for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats

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For those who might not recognize Jacobs’ name, he was acquired by the Blue Jays on July 30th, one day after GM Alex Anthopoulos traded first baseman Brett Wallace straight-up for highly touted outfielder Anthony Gose. (more…)