Lugo starts throwing ahead of schedule
WASHINGTON, D.C. — While the Mets wait for Monday to begin the season, their bullpen anchor back in Port St. Lucie is taking positive steps forward.
Seth Lugo, who is recovering from right elbow surgery, started throwing a week ago, according to Mets manager Luis Rojas. He picked up the ball two days ahead of schedule, which is a good sign for the righty’s eventual return.
Lugo is up to playing catch from 75 feet, per Rojas. The Mets initially expected Lugo to return to the team halfway through May but depending on how well he handles the rest of his rehab, that timeline could speed up in the team’s favor. The same goes for Carlos Carrasco, who is so far progressing faster than the Mets’ original timetable.
“I think Seth has done a really good job,” Rojas said on Saturday. “I think right now, what was said was mid-May, so let’s see how he progresses. It’s good news that he’s throwing right now, he’s playing catch. He’s done it like three, four times already, counting today that I think he threw again.”
Lugo, 31, first noticed the inflammation in his right elbow in early February — just before pitchers and catchers were scheduled to report to spring training. He tried to get the swelling down with icing and compression, and when that didn’t work, he alerted the Mets’ medical staff. Once he arrived in Florida, an MRI revealed a bone spur that had broken off in his pitching elbow.
He was shut down from throwing for six weeks.
“It caught me off guard because it was feeling fine,” Lugo said last month. “There wasn’t an incident or a throw or anything where I noticed something. It just came out of nowhere. Now, it feels a lot better. It feels pretty normal. We’re easing into the rehab stuff, making sure we check off all the boxes and go about it the right way. It feels really good.”
Lugo was also forced to miss Opening Day in 2017, when he discovered he had a partially torn UCL in the last week of spring training. Lugo was able to avoid Tommy John surgery and has been pitching that way for the past four seasons.
Trying to stay sharp: Taijuan Walker took the mound on Saturday at Nationals Park on a brisk, high 40s afternoon in the nation’s capital. Behind him, Francisco Lindor monitored short, Pete Alonso parked at first base, Michael Conforto patrolled right field and the rest of the team’s starting position players took their places.
Big-league athletes played in a big-league ballpark. The only problem: It was just a simulated game.
The Mets, in a production to keep their bodies fresh and prepared throughout their absence of games, took to the field in a Saturday evening matchup against each other. Along with Walker, fifth starter Joey Lucchesi and reliever Jeurys Familia also threw in the sim game.
The Mets saw their Opening Day get postponed to Monday against the Phillies after the Nationals had a COVID-19 outbreak. Four players tested positive for the virus with six others quarantined following contract tracing.
“It is weird,” Rojas said of holding a practice at the empty Nationals Park. “We’re watching games and we see everybody is playing in the league. But at the same time, this is a situation that’s been happening since last year. It’s just really tough to control once it happens, so what can you do? We’re trying to do the best facing the circumstances right now.”
The Mets will have had a sevenday layoff from actual competition against another uniform by the time the Phillies host them on Monday.
All-Star support: Rojas said he supports MLB commissioner Rob Manfred’s decision to pull the 2021 All-Star Game out of Atlanta, due to a Georgia bill that will disproportionately affect voters of color through new, restrictive voting laws.
“Anything that suppresses the voting system is just discriminatory,” Rojas said. “It’s not in the rights of voting. It’s something that definitely makes us stand behind what the commissioner is saying.”