Mets place C. Young on DL with strained right quad

NEW YORK -- One day after outfielder Chris Young lasted just one inning in his Mets debut, the team placed Young on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right quad. Young is eligible to return April 18 against the Braves, and the Mets expect him back at that time.

"I think it's only going to be 15 days," manager Terry Collins said. "I don't think it's anything severe. I do believe that he caught it in time -- he just said it grabbed on him, he could jog off the field, he didn't have to come out immediately -- so I don't think it's going to be any longer than that."

For the Mets, replacing Young on the roster was as simple as activating second baseman Daniel Murphy from paternity leave. The team plans to keep infielder Wilmer Flores, who was originally recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas to sub for Murphy, on the 25-man roster until Sunday. New York will activate Jon Niese at that time, likely optioning Flores back to Las Vegas and keeping outfielder Andrew Brown on the active roster.

Young, meanwhile, will work to rehab an injury that he thought was behind him after he sat out Opening Day. Calling his situation "a bad dream," Young said he felt fine warming up prior to Wednesday's game, but tweaked his quad chasing down an Adam LaRoche foul ball.

"It's one thing to warm up and stay warm and say, 'Oh jeez, I feel good,'" Collins said of Young, who signed with the Mets on a $7.25 million deal this winter. "It's another thing to warm up and go stand in the outfield for five or six minutes without running when it's 45 degrees out, and then all of the sudden have to explode. I think that's what happened [Wednesday]. We'll get him rest and get him some treatment, but I think he'll be back in a normal amount of time."