NEW YORK — Justin Verlander felt like the new kid in school all spring. The 40-year-old ace had previously spent his entire career with only two other teams, the Detroit Tigers and the Houston Astros, and had never been in spring training with a new one until he came to Port St. Lucie as a free-agent signing in February.
The Mets’ home opener was going to be his moment to show his new team and the fans what he was all about. Instead, Verlander watched right-hander Tylor Megill start against the Miami Marlins on Friday afternoon at Citi Field, sidelined with a teres major strain in his right shoulder.
“[It feels] like crap,” Verlander said Friday morning, standing at his Citi Field locker for the first time. “Just not the way I envisioned starting my career with them. It’s disappointing, to be honest, but I’m always a glass-half-full type of person, I’m always trying to be as positive as possible. And even though this isn’t the way I would have liked to have started, it’s out of my control. Injuries happen, that’s the nature of things.”
Verlander has reasons for optimism after imaging taken earlier in the week showed reduced inflammation in the muscle. The soreness he was feeling has subsided. The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner, eyeing a return before the month is over, though he’s still hesitant to give a firm date.
“All positive signs,” Verlander said. “Just waiting for [the soreness] to really continue to go away before I step on the gas. But I’ve been able to keep throwing and also increase my intensity of throwing up to like 75 percent. So just kind of hovering at that level. I can’t give you an exact date, but I feel like I’m really close to being able to take the leash off and start getting after it and build up.”
The Mets aren’t ready to put a timeline on his first start either, and if there has been discussion of a rehab start yet, they aren’t saying.
“He’s progressing really well and he’ll be ready as quickly as that injury would dictate,” manager Buck Showalter said. “We’re being pretty careful about it.”
Verlander doesn’t want to make a rehab start, though he said he would be amenable to it if the club and the doctors asked him to make one. He’s also unsure of whether or not he will undergo another MRI, but with the inflammation mostly gone, he thinks he’ll be able to determine whether or not he can come off the injured list when eligible based on how his shoulder and his arm feel.
“Justin’s a little different sometimes, in a good way,” Showalter said. “And I’m going to follow his lead on it for the most part, you know, medical people have some suggestions. A lot depends on how far he could go.”
Verlander will start progressing toward his return once the injury has completely healed, starting with long toss, then throwing off the mound and gradually increasing his velocity. Since he’s still been able to play catch, he likens the rehab to starting a race halfway through.
Verlander has the support of his teammates and he hopes he’ll have the support of the fans as well.
“I feel like the fans understand,” he said. “I’m just doing everything I can to get back out there and then hopefully, you hit the ground and, and make up for last time. That’s the goal.”
Trainer’s room
With catcher Omar Narvaez on the injured list, Francisco Alvarez is back with the big club. Triple-A Syracuse manager Dick Scott informed him that he was being called up while he was eating Wednesday and he was so excited he didn’t even finish his meal.
The Mets have worked out a plan for how much he will catch, though they aren’t making it public as of yet. The club has also considered using him as a DH against left-handed pitching, though they don’t want it to come at the cost of his catching responsibilities and development.
“I think it opens up some possibilities to give some guys some days [off],” Showalter said. “There’s a chance we’re going to see left-handed pitching possibly over the next few days. And looks like we’re gonna get [Blake] Snell against San Diego if they stay in turn. So I’ll look at it each day.”
Beautiful day for baseball
The Mets honored the late Bob Murphy on Friday, having his three children throw out ceremonial pitches in a pregame ceremony.
