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| NEW YORK -- Orlando Hernandez's health -- in flux for the majority of his Mets tenure -- has now plunged even further in doubt. The Mets revealed on Wednesday that El Duque suffered a tendon strain in his right foot during his latest rehab start and will wear a protective boot for approximately the next two weeks. His return to the Mets, considering the setback, may still be months away. "He's going to let it calm down for a couple of days," manager Willie Randolph said. "Usually when you put a boot on like that, it's just basically for rest." Entering Spring Training, El Duque was still recovering from offseason surgery to repair a different tendon in that same foot, all while pitching through a painful bunion. He missed the bulk of the Grapefruit League schedule due to the multiple foot conditions, ultimately returning in time to begin the regular season on the disabled list. Throughout the rehabilitation process, El Duque had tinkered with a new delivery, no longer pulling his knee up near his chin. Use of the altered windup coincided with a marked decrease in his velocity, and by Spring Training's end, he had abandoned that experiment in favor of his older, more familiar delivery. El Duque made two starts with his traditional delivery, then skipped his most recent scheduled rehab start after feeling increased pain in his foot. "He's had foot problems in the past," Randolph said. "I don't know if it has anything to do with changing deliveries. It could have nothing to do with it at all. That's just speculating." General manager Omar Minaya seemed less convinced, noting that a mechanical change "can cause other areas to be affected." Regardless of the cause, the Mets now must proceed knowing that they'll be without two of the pitchers they projected into their starting rotation, El Duque and Pedro Martinez, for a significant chunk of the season. Mike Pelfrey has already filled one of the roles, and Nelson Figueroa -- seemingly more of a stopgap option -- is set to occupy the other. The Mets are also close to signing free-agent right-hander Claudio Vargas, according to an online report released Wednesday in the New York Post, which could provide another solution. Vargas' agent, Bean Stringfellow, did not immediately return a telephone message regarding the situation. Still, the Mets haven't publicly resigned themselves to a summer without El Duque. Because they remain uncertain about the injury's long-term implications, they're not about to speculate just yet. "We haven't really addressed whether there's going to be surgery, or anything else as far as trades or anything like that," Randolph said. "We haven't gotten to all that yet." |