Dominic Smith (foot) heads to injured list

NEW YORK -- For about a week, Dominic Smith felt discomfort in his left foot, considering it an annoyance more than anything that would prevent him from playing. So Smith kept quiet as long as he could, until the pain became a bit too much to ignore. Late Friday, Smith told Mets trainers about his issue. They sent him the following morning for an MRI, which revealed a stress reaction.

Some hours later, Smith came limping into the Mets’ clubhouse wearing a walking boot on his foot. He will remain in the boot until at least Monday, at which point Smith will undergo a CT scan that should offer more detail on his next steps.

In the interim, the Mets placed Smith on the injured list Saturday, calling up outfielder Aaron Altherr from Triple-A Syracuse to replace him.

“A week ago, I just thought I needed a massage for my feet or something of that sort,” Smith said. “This is very disappointing, a very sad day for me. I’m just very upset that this happened.”

Until last week, Smith had never felt pain in his foot quite like this. He believes a combination of extra early work on the field, plus lots of game action, contributed to the injury. Left unchecked, stress reactions can lead to stress fractures -- tiny cracks in the bone from overuse. Smith’s issue is in the second metatarsal, near the inside of his foot.

“Every movement that I do athletically, I feel,” Smith said. “It was definitely affecting me, but we all play through stuff. That’s not an excuse for anything. I didn’t even want to tell them because I wanted to play. I didn’t want this to happen.”

Serving as the Mets’ regular left fielder, Smith had started five of their past seven games at the position before landing on the IL. J.D. Davis replaced him in Saturday’s lineup, and he is likely to see the lion’s share of playing time in Smith’s absence. The injury could also result in increased playing time for center fielder Juan Lagares, as well as reps for Altherr, who was batting .429 with three home runs over his past four games with Syracuse.

As for Smith, he won’t have any sort of a timetable for restarting weight-bearing activities until his CT scan on Monday. Regardless of the prognosis, Smith will miss the rest of July and at least a chunk of August. Overall, he was batting .278 with 10 home runs and an .858 OPS in what has been a breakout season for the former first-round Draft pick.

“It’s definitely a bummer,” Smith said. “I woke up this morning, I felt really good. My foot felt really good the last couple days, so I was excited about today. To get in and hear the news, it just hurt. It hurt a lot. I’m very disappointed and very sad, and I’m just going to do everything I can to get back out there as soon as I can.”

Nimmo not close

Outfielder Brandon Nimmo, who has been sidelined since May 21 due to a bulging cervical disc and the effects of whiplash, is “still a ways away” from game action, according to manager Mickey Callaway. Nimmo has been performing regular baseball activities, but must go on a Minor League rehab assignment before returning to the Mets. That will not happen until at least August.

Doing good in the community

Mets infielder Todd Frazier is donating $50,000 to the RWJBarnabas Health Field of Dreams in his hometown of Toms River, N.J. The donation will go toward the creation of the Todd Frazier Special Needs baseball league, for children of all ages challenged by disabilities.