Need a better plan for weak hot corner

Just about 40 minutes before first pitch Wednesday night, Travis d’Arnaud started taking ground balls hit to him by coach Glenn Sherlock at third base. The Mets catcher had never played a professional game at third, but he seemingly drew the short straw.

He was thrown into the lineup for the Citi Field opener against the Yankees at the position when Jose Reyes and Wilmer Flores were late scratches with what the team said were “sore left rib cages.”

But that last-minute, seat-of-the pants decision was kind of fitting for how the Mets have handled the position this year.

With former AllStar David Wright battling through a serious spinal condition and a neck injury that has had him out since May of 2016, the Mets have pieced together their third base options all season. And heading into the offseason, it doesn’t sound like they have a better plan going into 2018.

Wright, who has not played in a game in over a year, is in Florida doing light baseball activities with the intent of returning in September. He is again beginning a throwing program after June 2016 neck surgery to repair a herniated disc. That is on top of the degenerative spine condition, spinal stenosis, he has to deal with on a daily basis.

Despite those physical conditions, Sandy Alderson said the Mets will not approach Wright to talk about retiring.

“No. I don’t see that in the cards,” the Mets GM said. “That’s a judgment he’ll have to make.”

Privately, the idea of the captain and the face of the franchise coming back seems like “a longshot,” according to sources.

Alderson wouldn’t say if he believes Wright will play this season.

“He certainly thinks it is, and I’m not gonna sit here and tell him or you that it’s not,” the Mets GM said of Wright’s return being a possibility. “Again, we just have to see. It hasn’t been a straight-line progression, we know that. It may not be the rest of the season. It’s hard to know.”

The next six weeks are all about figuring out what the Mets know going into 2018. Alderson, whose contract is up but who is expected to be extended, will watch youngsters Dom Smith and Amed Rosario to see if they need veteran backup next season. He’ll watch Robert Gsellman down the stretch to see if he deserves to be in the rotation or bullpen.

But, Alderson admitted, they are in limbo when it comes to third base.

“You can see how it played out in 2017, and so it will play out to some extent in 2018. We don’t have an everyday, top-shelf third-base option that some teams do. Not that we have played terribly at third base, but we didn’t go into the season with a solidified situation in part because we’re not sure what David’s condition would be,” Alderson said. “Now, as we go into 2018 do we build on what we learned in 2017 and act accordingly and consider moving David to another position, that sort of thing? That’s all something that has to be evaluated as we get into the offseason.”

The Mets have to build on that and prepare for that not-so-distant, long-term future without Wright. With a third base free agent class that includes Mike Moustakas, Eduardo Nunez, Todd Frazier, Trevor Plouffe and Jose Reyes, the Mets might be best served just picking up the option on Asdrubal Cabrera’s contract to get through another year.

But they need to be looking at trade possibilities for a solid third base prospect who will eventually take over the hot corner long term. It’s become blear that the GM needs a better plan at third base for 2018 and beyond.

“I think that’s something we have to look at as those opportunities arise and present themselves,” Alderson said.

“We’re always looking to get better, and at the same time I think we have to recognize the reality of David’s situation and we have to plan around that, as we have over the last year. That doesn’t answer your question, but that’s as good as I can get.”

The Mets need a better answer and a much better long-term plan than that heading into the offseason.

THE Injured Knight threw off a city mound in a game for the first time in two months Wednesday night, and he struck out the side to close out his start as he nears a return to Queens.

“For me, it’s a feel thing, it’s a mechanical thing,” Matt Harvey said. “Obviously that last inning things started clicking. Definitely inching closer.”

Harvey tossed 36 pitches — 26 strikes, 10 balls — over three scoreless innings in the Brooklyn Cyclones’ game against the Aberdeen Ironbirds at MCU Park in Coney Island. He allowed one hit, was charged with a wild pitch and recorded nothing but strikeouts in his final frame of work. He also picked off the lone runner he allowed on base at second. It was a scoreless game when he departed.

“I think the next one is trying to ramp up and go a little bit further,” he said. “We’ll see where we go from there.”

Harvey reportedly reached 94 mph on radar guns and maintained that his arm felt “great.” He trained his attention on building up his arm strength while regaining timing and rhythm. He does not know where he will be sent next, but acknowledged that he heard there was a good time going with the Class-A St. Lucie Mets and former Jets quarterback Tim Tebow. “I hear it’s a riot down there,” Harvey said. The Mets shut down Harvey on June 16. He experienced soreness that stemmed from Thoracic Outlet Syndrome surgery he had last year, and was officially put on the disabled list on July 6. It was retroactive to July 5. Harvey was 4-3 with a 5.25 ERA before landing on the DL. Harvey threw 18 pitches — 11 balls and seven strikes — in his first game back on Saturday. He yielded one walk, a hit and a run in one inning of work against the Hudson Valley Renegades at Dutchess County Stadium.

Harvey planned on hustling back to Citi Field by the end of the Mets’ game against the Yankees after he left the clubhouse in Brooklyn.

“It was really cool to leave the clubhouse and have all the guys wish me good luck and hopefully see them win a ball game, too.”