Cespedes pulled for ‘tightness’
PORT ST. LUCIE — Yoenis Cespedes left Sunday’s game in the fifth inning after feeling his hip and quad muscles tighten up. The Mets slugger was checked by doctors, who cleared him. The Mets did not say on which side Cespedes felt the tightening.
“I took Ces out. He thought his quad, hip was starting to tighten up a little bit, I am sure due to the wind,” Terry Collins said. “We did baserunning stuff this morning, might have tightened up. So I got him out of there. Doctors looked at him and said he’s just fine.”
The manager said he had no further concern about the outfielder, who was signed to a four-year, $110 million deal in December. Cespedes nursed a nagging right quad issue through most of 2016, and missed 14 games on the disabled list due to the injury last August. Cespedes looked healthy early in the Mets’ 14-11 loss to the Cardinals Sunday. He belted his second home run of the spring in the first inning of Mike Leake. The shot went over the scoreboard in left field. His first home run of spring went up over the 35-five foot high batters’ eye in center field.
WHEELING FORWARD
Zack Wheeler is almost afraid to get excited. After multiple setbacks and pitching just one inning in a minor-league rehab game, Sunday the Mets righthander cleared his final step before getting back into a game Friday in Orlando. He threw live batting practice Sunday, throwing just over 30 pitches, facing six batters and said he felt better than he has thus far in camp. “I guess I am excited,” Wheeler said when asked about his scheduled start against the Braves. “It’s another step forward, I am feeling better every time I go out there. Hopefully it translates over to the game and we can sort of go from there.”
The Mets are hoping Wheeler can complete his rehab from March 2015 Tommy John surgery and get back to help them later this season. They expected that he would be there for them in the middle of 2016, but he went through several setbacks beginning with having surgery to remove a stitch that was left over from the initial surgery. He fought through nerve irritation in the elbow to make a rain-shortened rehab start here in August, throwing just 17 pitches, before he was shut down with a flexor muscle strain.
So you can forgive him for being a little anxious about taking that next step.
“I kinda feel like I am waiting for a setback,” Wheeler joked when asked about the long recovery. “But everything felt good, so I feel good about it. Everything was coming out of my hand nice today. Definitely felt better than last time. I am spinning some curveballs, It’s good.”
Wheeler is slated to begin the season in extended spring training, where the Mets can limit his workload and ease him back for late spring this year.
MORE METS, PAGE 45