Cespedes thumb no big deal

YOENIS Cespedes is a much better hitter than doctor. The Mets slugger had predicted he would need three days off to deal with what the team said was a sore left thumb, but Cespedes was back in the lineup Tuesday night. And he was raking. Cespedes went 3-for-4 with a home run in the Mets’ 3-2 loss to the Braves.

The sore thumb, which he seemed to hyperextend diving into a base on Sunday, turned out to be of very little concern to the Mets.

“He came in, he played catch, hit off the tee and felt he was ready to go,” Sandy Alderson said.

The GM said the Mets did not have Cespedes go through with a scheduled MRI. “He didn’t need one,” Alderson said. Soon after hurting himself, Cespedes said it was an issue he had dealt with before and prescribed himself three days off. Tuesday, wandering through the clubhouse toward the batting cages, Cespedes said the thumb felt “good.” While there have been critics of Cespedes’ decision to dive into third, Mickey Callaway said he would not ask him to play any other way.

“I love the way that Yoenis Cespedes is playing the game of baseball,” the Met manager said.

“You have to go out there and play the game hard like everybody else does. If he does that, we’re going to win,” Callaway said.

MATZ UNAVAILABLE

Steven Matz reported some tenderness in his back after the long flight back from San Diego, so he was unavailable out of the bullpen Tuesday night.

Matz threw off flat ground. He was originally scheduled to start Tuesday night, but experienced soreness in his upper back Saturday. The Mets pushed him back and started Noah Syndergaard on regular rest.

NO CATCHING BREAK

Kevin Plawecki saw the doctor on Tuesday and said he was encouraged with the way his hand is healing. Still the catcher is likely to miss at least two more weeks and will need a rehab assignment before he returns.

Since Travis d’Arnaud (Tommy John surgery) and Plawecki were lost to injury, Jose Lobaton and Tomas Nido have been filling in, to Alderson’s satisfaction.

“We’ve looked for ways to improve the catching,” Alderson said. “We have and continue to watch the waiver wire and other opportunities as they might arise. At this point, there’s nothing we wanted to jump and change.”

SWARZAK NO CLOSER

Right-hander Anthony Swarzak’s oblique strain was complicated by the proximity to the rib, Alderson said. The reliever, who the Mets signed to a two-year $14 million deal this winter, has been on the disabled list since April 2 and there is no sign of his return.

“It’s going to be a little more on the longer end,” Alderson said. “Things are going slower than we hoped but I don’t have a timetable for you.”