Mets' Rivera to Didi: Don't rush TJ recovery.
Didi Gregorius could potentially return from Tommy John surgery by the middle of next season, which the Yankees would no doubt sign up for.
All they have to do is look across town for a worse alternative.
T.J. Rivera underwent the same procedure on his right elbow in September 2017, with hopes of being back with the Mets during the latter part of this past season.
Instead, his minor league rehab stint ended in July after just six games and he was shut down for the rest of the season.
Rivera, 29, said he expects to resume a throwing program soon and is confident he’ll be fine for spring training, but he’s also learned not to predict anything when it comes to the injury.
“There are a lot of ups and downs when you’re coming back,’’ Rivera said by phone Wednesday. “Everyone says after nine months, you’ll be back, but the arm is a tricky thing. There are a lot of weird movements when you’re throwing and it’s hard to know how you’ll feel. It was tougher than I thought it would be.”
Gregorius turns 29 in February and is roughly the same age as Rivera was when he underwent the procedure. Rivera saw Dr. James Andrews, while Gregorius had his surgery performed by Dr. David Altchek.
During his season-ending press conference on Oct. 12, general manager Brian Cashman said he believes Gregorius will “return to the player we’ve been enjoying for quite some time. We’ll wait on him, but how we handle the waiting … is yet to be determined.”
The Yankees spent part of this week formulating a plan for 2019 and part of that is finding a replacement for Gregorius, but the GM made it clear he still considered him the team’s shortstop. There’s no telling, though, when that might happen.
“I tried to get back as quick as I could,’’ Rivera said. “It was probably my fault, being too aggressive. I might have rushed it.”
Rivera’s advice to Gregorius would be not to let the calendar determine what you do.
“You’ve got to let it heal,’’ Rivera said. “I looked at dates constantly and that wasn’t the best way to do it. You have to listen to your body. Every arm reacts differently, so you can’t compare when you get back to someone else. There’s no reason to force it.”
At the time, Rivera didn’t think he was coming back too fast and advised Gregorius to do everything possible prior to taking the field in a game for the first time, noting that swinging adds stress to the elbow.
“I thought I was 100 percent when I started those [rehab] games,’’ Rivera said. “When you’re rehabbing, you control everything, but when I started playing and making off-balance throws or bare-handed plays, it didn’t feel right. I don’t think I tested it the way I should have.’’ Now, though, he’s healthy. “The ligament is fine, I just had to strengthen it,’’ Rivera said. “You want to play pain-free, so there is the mental hurdle of getting back to where you were before the injury. I’ve talked to guys and some say it takes a year-anda-half to feel right. You’re not sure if what you’re feeling are normal aches and pains or if you’re hurt again. You have to go at your own speed.”