Injury Update -- Walker Rehab -- Eyeing 7/24 Return

Things in Inertiaville get more interesting if the Terry Collins-announced timetable holds true.  One would assume Walker is going to play the moment he's available to expose him as healthy for a week to other teams looking for a switch hitting infielder.  Where he plays and who sits becomes an interesting conundrum.

If Walker returns to 2B, then where does Asdrubal Cabrera play?  It took 3+ months but Jose Reyes is finally starting to hit, so it doesn't seem to make sense to bench him.  T.J. Rivera gives the Mets a .300+ hitter, so logically it makes sense to keep him in the lineup, too.

One way to go would be to play Neil Walker at 3B both to showcase his ability to play there and to test drive him a bit in the event he's still a Met for the remainder of the year to ascertain if he's a viable David Wright replacement.  That would be the least disruptive thing to do, leaving Cabrera at 2B and Reyes at SS.  The thought here would be that you need to showcase both Cabrera and Reyes as well.

Thoughts of shifting Rivera to 1B don't make sense since they are showcasing Lucas Duda to all comers as well.

I'm guessing T.J. Rivera goes to the bench at least until August 1st in order to let other teams see the three likely departing infielders playing regularly.  Once the trade deadline passes, then I could see them sending Cabrera to the bench to make room for Rivera (assuming no one bites on any of the three starters).