Mets closer Frank Francisco went on the disabled list June 24 with an oblique strain. Those are tough injuries to come back from, and Francisco has been out for nearly six weeks.

It’s not necessarily cause-and-effect, but the Mets have gone 13-21 without Francisco and fallen out of contention. They’ll have him back for Friday’s game, according to the New York Post:

After spending the last five weeks on the disabled list with a strained left oblique, closer Frank Francisco will rejoin the Mets today, giving the team some much needed depth in the bullpen.

The right-hander is 1-3 with a 4.97 ERA and 18 saves, but had rebounded from a disastrous May before hitting the disabled list on June 24.

Manager Terry Collins will be glad to have Bobby Parnell in a setup role again with Francisco returning, but said Parnell could still see ninth-inning duty.

Francisco posted a 3.86 ERA and 1.5 WHIP in a five-game rehab assignment to Double-A Binghamton. The Post article says Elvin Ramirez will “likely” be removed from the 25-man roster (probably by optioning him to Triple-A), but no official move has yet been announced.

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