Los Angeles Dodgers second baseman Jeff Kent will undergo surgery. To repair torn cartilage in his left knee on Tuesday.
The 40-year-old Kent can begin rehabilitation soon after the operation and might return by the end of the season, manager Joe Torre said.
“We’ll see what happens,” Torre said. “I know one thing: if there’s a chance he’ll come back, he’s going to come back.”
Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti said the club will place Kent on the 15-day disabled list and recall infielder Chin-lung Hu from Triple-A Las Vegas.
Kent is batting .275 with 11 homers and 57 RBIs.
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Niese to make major league debut for Mets.
Top New York Mets pitching prospect Jonathon Niese will be called up from Triple-A New Orleans to make his major league debut in the heat of the playoff race Tuesday against Milwaukee.
Eight other players also will join the Mets on Monday when the active roster can be expanded to 40 players. They include pitching prospect Robert Parnell, three relievers and infielder-outfielder Marlon Anderson, who will be activated after spending a month on the disabled list with a hamstring injury.
Niese will take the rotation spot left vacant when right-hander John Maine was placed on the 15-day disabled list a week ago because of a bone spur in his right shoulder.
“We think very highly of Jonathan Niese,” vice president for development Tony Bernazard said Sunday. “He’s a 21-year-old that we expect to be an important member of this organization.
“You have to perform at some point, and it happens to be Tuesday against a very good team. Let’s see what he has. We’ll find out a lot about where we’re at with him in the next month.”
Niese was a seventh-round draft pick in 2005. The left-hander went 5-1 with a 3.40 ERA in seven starts for New Orleans.
The NL East-leading Mets also will bolster their shaky bullpen. Joining them Monday will be recently acquired right-hander Al Reyes from Double-A Binghamton and two pitchers from New Orleans – right-hander Carlos Muniz and left-hander Ricardo Rincon.
“We’re getting some extra bodies,” manager Jerry Manuel said. “We’re a little banged up, just like everybody else this time of year. We have to do what we can to keep getting it done.”
Closer Billy Wagner, sidelined since Aug. 3 with a strained elbow, is scheduled for a bullpen session Monday in New York. If it goes well, the next step might be for Wagner to pitch in a game for the Mets’ Class-A affiliate in Brooklyn.
“He’s improving,” Bernazard said. “He’s feeling much better.”
Also joining the Mets from New Orleans will be right-hander Parnell, infielder Ramon Martinez, catcher Gustavo Molina and infielder Argenis Reyes.
