As he springs into action, Scherzer a happy camper
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — For the past few months and especially the past few weeks, Max Scherzer lived three separate, busy, complicated lives.
He was Max Scherzer the righthander pitcher, preparing physically for his first season with the Mets, who in November signed him to the biggest freeagent contract in franchise history. He was also Max Scherzer the South Florida family man, husband to Erica and father to their three young children. And he was Max Scherzer the member of the Players Association executive subcommittee, perhaps the player face of the heated labor negotiations with MLB.
Finally, mercifully, the responsibility-heavy portion of the latter of those lives concluded Thursday, when owners and players agreed on a new five-year collective bargaining agreement, ending the lockout that delayed spring training and Opening Day.
“I get my life back,” he said.
That life now includes daily commutes to the team’s Clover Park facility, where he spoke Saturday after throwing his first official bullpen session as a Met. Pitching to Tomas Nido, with pitching coach Jeremy Hefner and analyst Jack Bredeson looking on, Scherzer threw a routine 40-plus pitches, the main event of on an otherwise quiet day at camp.
With just three-plus weeks from the mandatory report date on Sunday to April 5, when the Mets will head to Washington, D.C., to open the season two days later, this spring training will be a weird and short one.
But Scherzer said he probably will be stretched out to the normal 100 pitches by the start of the regular season. Already, he has thrown three innings/50 pitches in a simulated game at the training facility he frequents in the offseason.
He isn’t too far from where he would be normally in mid-March, despite the circumstances. And he has felt “no ill effects,” he said, after suffering from a fatigued right arm with the Dodgers in the postseason last year.
“This is not a normal spring training. You gotta adapt,” he said. “You gotta know what your schedule is and know where you’re at and how to navigate it and know where you’re body is at. I got all the experience in the world. I’m old. I’m one of the dinosaurs in the game. I know where I need to be at.”
Three Florida keys for Mets’ spring training Jacob deGrom and his maybe healthy right arm:
More than eight months since he last pitched, deGrom enters camp with significant questions about the health of his right arm. Last we heard from him, he was offering a curt denial in response to team president Sandy Alderson’s revelation that he had a minor tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, then didn’t comment at all when the Mets reneged on their plan to bring him back late in the season and shut him down instead.
Adding to the intrigue: deGrom can opt out of his contract after this season.
His potentially historic season, which included a 1.08 ERA in 15 starts, derailed deGrom’s ‘21. Without him, the first-place Mets fell apart, ultimately missing the playoffs for a fifth consecutive season and finishing with a losing record.
The return of Robinson Cano:
Cano is coming to spring training after being suspended last year for a positive steroid test, his second PED-related offense. He is 39 years old and 17 months removed from his most recent majorleague action, so it’s hard to know what he’ll be able to provide the Mets.
Still, the Mets want to find out. Which is what camp is for. He might figure into the second-base picture with Jeff McNeil and the designated-hitter situation alongside J.D. Davis, Dominic Smith and others. If the Mets deem Cano unworthy of a roster spot, they are allowed to cut him. But the $48 million he is owed through the end of 2023 is guaranteed. They’d have to pay him anyway.
The Mets’ everyday outfield is poised to consist of Brandon Nimmo plus newcomers Starling Marte and Mark Canha. But club decision-makers haven’t weighed in yet on their alignment.
Public defensive metrics from last year favor a significantly improved Nimmo over Marte in centerfield, and Nimmo — a free agent at season’s end — has said he wants to play center. But did the Mets sign Marte to a four-year, $78 million contract intending to put him in a corner spot?
Who’s in center?: