Mejia gets his man in return from PED ban
Jenrry Mejia made his season debut on Sunday and managed to retire the lone batter he faced, getting Chris Owings to fly out to right field to end the seventh inning.
The righthander began the year on the disabled list with an elbow injury and was then suspended 80 games on April 11 after testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug.
Mejia admitted he had some nerves after finally getting another opportunity on the mound.
“I’ve been waiting for the fifth day and now I go in there, throw all my pitches and get that guy out,” Mejia said. “I understand I was out two-and-a-half months, now I come back and wait for my time. Today was my time.”
With Mejia back in the bullpen and Bobby Parnell now healthy, Terry Collins hopes those two can become a consistent bridge to closer Jeurys Familia, as they were on Sunday.
“We’ll be a lot better. We were counting on that out of spring training even when we had Vic Black in the mix and then everybody broke down and Jenrry got suspended. It’s been up to Familia and a few rookies. Right now the bullpen is coming around,” Collins said. “Jenrry was nervous today, I’m sure everybody saw that. But we’re going to get better. If we can get to the big guy at the end, we’re going to win some games.”
Because of his PED suspension, Mejia is not eligible to pitch in the playoffs if the Mets make it that far.
LAGARES: JUST A CRAMP
For once, the Mets seem to have dodged an injury.
Gold Glove center fielder Juan Lagares was pulled from Sunday’s game in the eighth inning with what the team described as a tight right calf. But after the game, Lagares insisted he was fine and that his leg had simply cramped up.
“I was a little afraid. I had to tell them, I didn’t want it to get more (injured) than what it was. But right now I feel good,” Lagares said. “(The doctor) just said it was a cramp. At the moment there was (pain), but now I feel good.”
WRIGHT REPORT
Collins offered a somewhat cryptic update on David Wright’s health, saying the captain is “doing some things that are related to baseball activities.”
“I talked to David today, he’s really on the upswing. Hopefully he gets back soon and I think it’s going to be a really exciting second half (of the season) to watch us play,” Collins said. “He’s got a doctor’s appointment on Monday and he’s hoping he can start some more aggressive things on the field here pretty soon. ... That’s all he told me, ‘I’m doing related baseball stuff.’ That’s good enough for me.”
ROTATION TALK
Collins revealed that Noah Syndergaard will likely make the first start in the Mets’ second half of the season against the Cardinals, followed by some combination of Bartolo Colon and Jon Niese. That leaves both Matt Harvey and AllStar Jacob deGrom slated for the following series against the first-place Nationals.