But Mets shouldn’t let injuries drag ’em down

Only the Mets could descend so quickly from the euphoria over their torrid burst out of the starting blocks into instant scramble mode with both of their catchers suddenly landing on the disabled list. Whatever “remain calm” spin they predictably attempted to put forth on Friday, however, Sandy Alderson fully must understand why they can’t allow this dual setback behind the plate to derail what has been a rare feelgreat story in Flushing under first-year manager Mickey Callaway.

Perhaps today isn’t the day to assemble a knee-jerk package of prospects to acquire J.T. Realmuto from Derek Jeter’s fire-selling Marlins, fair enough, especially after the Mets kept rolling — if barely — with a 6-5 win over Milwaukee.

But they clearly have to be prepared to jump at any opportunity to address the unforeseen gaping hole created within the span of a couple of days with always-injured Travis d’Arnaud officially headed for season-ending Tommy John surgery and Kevin Plawecki joining him on the DL with – you don’t say — a nondisplaced fracture in his left hand after initial x-rays had come back negative earlier in the week. Alderson insists the Mets feel “comfortable for the very short term” with their catching situation, at least, in making do with the veteran/rookie combo of reinforcements they summoned to replace the disabled backstop duo for the time being from Triple-A Vegas, in well-traveled Jose Lobaton and organizational prospect Tomas Nido.

Then again, the always-quippy GM’s retort when asked for his definition of “very shortterm” was far more telling before the Mets improved to 11-1 on the season.

“Until about 11 o’clock tonight,” Alderson joked.

Indeed, Alderson and the Mets’ front office already have sent out feelers across baseball to gauge what’s out there, although one source told Daily News beat writer Kristie Ackert that they “would be very surprised” if there are any substantive talks this soon for Realmuto, whom the Mets checked in on while Miami was salary-dumping Giancarlo Stanton and several others over the winter.

The 27-year-old Realmuto — making just $2.9 million and under contractual control through 2020 — also has been on the disabled list to open the season with a back contusion, and there are strong doubts that the Mets even have the match of prospect depth to swing such a deal.

Alderson stressed he believes “we’re capable enough to add a catcher (to the payroll) if we felt it was necessary.

“We’ll see how things go, but we are going to be certainly aware of what else may be available out there and we’ll monitor that market. At this moment, we don’t have any plans to add anyone, other than at the Triple-A level. But that certainly could change.”

For now, the options will remain in-house, and both Alderson and Callaway expressed confidence that the two promoted catchers are capable of helping to guide a pitching staff that has begun to reestablish itself in both health and production through the first two weeks of 2018.

Alderson described the 24-year-old Nido as “an exceptional defensive catcher,” while Lobaton — who tripled in his first Mets at-bat — has been around the block a few times as a serviceable backup over eight seasons with San Diego, Tampa and Washington, even if neither player provides the offensive punch potentially of d’Arnaud or Plawecki.

The latter is due back in three-to-four weeks – Mike Francesa’s dreaded “Met month,” notwithstanding — but Plawecki still has yet to prove capable of handling a regular workload at this level.

Among available stopgaps, two-time AllStar Miguel Montero was designated for assignment earlier this week by Washington, while veterans such as Ryan Hanigan, Geovany Soto and Chooch Ruiz also remain unsigned.

Eventually on the trade market, bigger impact names such as Wilson Ramos (Tampa Bay), Jonathan Lucroy (Oakland), Kurt Suzuki (Atlanta) and James McCann (Detroit) could emerge – along with Realmuto, of course — from non-contending clubs.

“Again, I think immediately the answer is no,” Alderson said when asked if he feels a need to improve immediately behind the plate. “But just as we lost two catchers within a span of 24 hours, we could lose another one.

“I think right now we want to give these two an opportunity to see what they can do.”

If Plawecki doesn’t return quickly or isn’t productive once he does, however, the Mets – assuming their pitching staff remains healthy and keeps them in contention – simply can’t allow their latest catching woes to sink another promising season.

With the Mets, there always seems to be a catch.