Day after throwing, Zack feeling good
PORT ST. LUCIE — The day after throwing a limited bullpen session on Sunday, Zack Wheeler said he felt good before the team’s Monday morning workout. The Mets righthander had been pushed back on this throwing schedule after experiencing tenderness in his surgically repaired elbow last week.
The 26-year-old said that he felt good on the mound Sunday, throwing 21 pitches at about 75% and expected to return to a somewhat normal schedule.
The Mets are giving pitchers two days’ rest between bullpen sessions this spring as a way to try to keep their young, but often injured, arms healthy this year. Wheeler would be on track to throw again Wednesday.
Terry Collins said Monday that they had not officially scheduled Wheeler’s next bullpen session, but were encouraged he came through Sunday’s session without any problems and could be on a regular schedule soon.
Wheeler is nearing the second anniversary of his 2015 Tommy John surgery and said Monday morning that while he is excited to be back out on the mound, he too is frustrated with the process. Most pitchers complete their Tommy John rehab in 13 to 18 months, but Wheeler’s recovery has been extended because of several setbacks, including needing surgery to remove a stitch from the initial procedure.
“I’d like to stop talking about my elbow every day,” Wheeler joked Monday. “I’d just like
to pitch.”
DAVID’s ALL WRIGHT
The day after throwing a baseball for the first time in eight months, David Wright said his shoulder feels fine. He is expected to play catch again on Tuesday and continue throwing every other day as the distance he throws and the number of times he throws increases. With the extra time in spring training because of the World Baseball Classic, Wright still thinks he can be ready for Opening Day despite the process. “It’s such a long spring. I know most of these guys probably hate it, but it’s beneficial for me, because I get a chance to take some baby steps and then really ramp it up this year,” Wright said. “For me every completed day and every new activity is another hurdle. Another thing you can check off the list. As long as you can do that, we’re heading in the right direction.”
ROTATION RAMPING UP
The Mets announced Monday that the spring training opener on Friday against the Red Sox in Fort Myers will be started by Seth Lugo. Collins confirmed that the Mets’ Big Four starters — Noah Syndergaard, Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom and Steven Matz — will be held back because of the longer spring training schedule.
The Mets manager said he doesn’t expect the starters to make their first start in the Grapefruit League before the March 1 game against the Cardinals. Spring training games are extended by a week to accommodate the WBC, giving players a chance to play games with their MLB clubs before heading to join their national teams.
Lugo will be followed by righthander Marcos Molina on Friday. Sean Gilmartin and Jerry Blevins are scheduled to appear Saturday in the Tradition Field opener against the Nationals and, on Sunday against the Tigers, righthanders Chris Flexen and Paul Sewald are scheduled to pitch.
BULLPEN MOVEs IN THE DARK
Jeurys Familia was back in camp on Monday after missing practice Sunday for what the team called personal reasons. An MLB source said that the absence was related to the closer’s MLB domestic violence case that is awaiting a decision from commissioner Rob Manfred. While the Mets are not expecting a decision until after Familia pitches for the Dominican Republic in the WBC, they are already making contingency plans for a possible suspension. Collins has previously said that Addison Reed will close games in Familia’s absence, but Monday he confirmed Fernando Salas will slide into Reed’s setup role in that situation. And he reiterated that Mets need to use this spring to figure who will get the ball to Salas and Reed.
“(Salas) has done it before and been successful at it,” Collins said. “As we’ve seen the last couple of years, the big inning is the seventh inning. How can we piecemeal that to get to the eighth inning? ..... We’ve got to make sure, especially early in the year, no matter how long Jeurys may be gone, we got to find those answers . ... You got to get through the sixth and seventh innings early in the season when starters are going just five innings.”
The Mets are looking at Lugo or Robert Gsellman, who are considered to be battling for the fifth starter spot, as a possible shortterm solution for the seventh inning.
YOUNG: TUMOR HAs sHRUNK
Former Met pitcher Anthony Young, who revealed in January that he had been diagnosed with an inoperable tumor on his brain stem, told Sports Talk Radio 1240 WGBB on Long Island that the tumor has shrunk after months of radiation and chemotherapy treatment. He is still undergoing treatment.