NEW YORK -- All told, Travis d'Arnaud made it back from Tommy John surgery in less than a year.

The Mets activated d’Arnaud from the injured list on Sunday, optioning catcher Tomas Nido to Triple-A Syracuse in a corresponding move. d'Arnaud was available for Sunday’s game off the bench, a little more than a week shy of his surgery anniversary. He underwent the operation last April 17.

“It feels good,” d’Arnaud said. “It was a long road. It took a village to get me back here, and I’m very grateful to be back, and be back in the big leagues.”

Due to the Mets’ desire to ease d’Arnaud’s return from Tommy John surgery, the veteran catcher opened this season on the injured list as a precaution. Rather than be with the club on Opening Day, d’Arnaud remained in Port St. Lucie, Fla., where he checked off the final boxes of his rehab -- most notably, catching a full nine-inning game. d’Arnaud also appeared in two Minor League rehab games, going 2-for-7 with a walk and a strikeout for Class A Advanced St. Lucie.

“I was just getting in sync with a nine-inning game again,” d’Arnaud said. “I was able to get a lot of work in with throwing and hitting, blocking, receiving -- just every little aspect. It was good to go through game situations again, instead of just seeing them.”

Back in the Majors, d’Arnaud finds himself in a reserve role for the first time in his career. The Mets committed $19 million this offseason to Wilson Ramos, who entered Sunday’s play batting .407 over his first eight games. While manager Mickey Callaway was quick to caution that Ramos will not catch every day, the Mets do expect him to serve as the starter.

That leaves d’Arnaud to scrape for playing time once or twice a week as Ramos’ substitute, and on occasion as a pinch-hitter. Callaway said he won’t hesitate to use d’Arnaud off the bench, despite the fact that the Mets opted against keeping Nido around as a third catcher. True to his word, the manager pinch-hit d'Arnaud in the seventh inning of Sunday's 12-9 loss to the Nationals, leaving him in to catch the final six outs. (The emergency catcher is Jeff McNeil.)

A career .245 hitter over six seasons, d’Arnaud enjoyed his best year in 2015, when he hit .268 with 12 home runs and an .825 OPS in 67 games.

“Whenever they need me to play, I’ll be ready to play,” d’Arnaud said. “Anything [Ramos] needs, I’ll be here as well. He’s a great person and I’m excited to work with him all year.”

Award winner

The Mets held an on-field ceremony prior to Sunday’s game to re-present Jacob deGrom with his National League Cy Young Award in front of Citi Field’s fans, many of whom also received a deGrom Cy Young bobblehead. deGrom was officially awarded his plaque at the Baseball Writers’ Association of America’s New York Chapter dinner in January.

He plans to let the team display it in the Mets Hall of Fame this summer, before taking the plaque home after the season.

Keeping the faith

Hoping to give Brandon Nimmo a chance to work his way out of a season-opening slump, the Mets benched him for the start of Sunday’s series finale. Callaway also subbed Nimmo out halfway through Saturday’s game, at which point he was 0-for-3 with three strikeouts.

The quick break appeared to pay immediate dividends. Entering Sunday as a defensive replacement in the fifth inning, Nimmo ripped an RBI double down the right-field line in his second at-bat, finishing 1-for-3 with two of his four hardest-hit balls of the season. That performance raised Nimmo's average to .103, and lowered his strikeout rate to 47 percent.

“It’s definitely a step in the right direction, but there’s a long way to go,” Nimmo said. “By no means is it like, ‘Oh, yeah, we’ve definitely figured everything out.’”

For Nimmo, the problem entering Sunday was consistently hitting high fastballs and low breaking pitches. While Callaway noted that opposing pitchers such as Scherzer have executed well against Nimmo this season, the outfielder admitted he is also missing mistakes -- the types of pitches he bashed last season en route to an .886 OPS in 140 games.

“[Last year] definitely gave me the confidence to know that it’s there, that I’m very, very capable,” Nimmo said. “At some point, I will pull out of this. We’re just trying to work and make it sooner. … Having last year, I know that I am very capable and know that I can perform not just adequately, but at a high level here.”