WASHINGTON — A.J. Minter‘s triceps soreness did, in fact, land him on the injured list, as the left-hander predicted. After getting checked out by the trainers Saturday night following his removal from the Mets‘ 2-0 win over the Washington Nationals, Minter was diagnosed with a lat strain. The grade of the strain is not yet known since the Mets couldn’t ship him for imaging till Sunday morning, however the trainers have been capable of decide the damage comparatively shortly.
There is no such thing as a timeline for a return in the intervening time, however relying on the severity, lat strains usually require a rehab interval starting from 6-10 weeks. The Mets estimated 6-8 weeks for right-hander Frankie Montas, plus time to undergo his full spring coaching development for the reason that damage occurred so early in camp.
As a reliever who began the season wholesome, Minter won’t want that a lot time to construct up. Nonetheless, he gained’t be again anytime quickly.
The Mets chosen right-hander Jose Ureña to the roster Sunday morning. The swingman was chosen to eat some innings for a bullpen that has had a heavy workload of late, and might be out there Sunday. The Mets can even insert him as a sixth starter subsequent week.
“We’re still a few days away before we have to make that decision,” supervisor Carlos Mendoza mentioned Sunday at Nationals Park. “In the meantime, he’s available out of the bullpen. We’ll go day by day.”
Ureña, a veteran starter who has pitched out of the bullpen periodically over the previous couple of years, is 0-1 with a 2.89 ERA over three begins with Triple-A Syracuse. If the Mets select to insert him into the rotation, the soonest they’d accomplish that is Wednesday towards the Arizona Diamondbacks at dwelling. Griffin Canning and David Peterson make their begins Monday in Washington, and Tuesday at Citi Discipline.
“He’s done it before,” Mendoza mentioned. “He’s a guy that starts and comes out of the bullpen. He’s built up to almost 75 pitches. So he gives us a little bit of length out of the bullpen based on a day like today.”
Proper-hander Dedniel Nuñez was thought of, however the Mets wished somebody who’s constructed as much as throw extra pitches than Nuñez presently is. This additionally offers the membership some flexibility with the roster spot. The Mets can designate Ureña to get one other starter like Justin Hagenman with out having to choice Max Kranick or Huascar Brazobán, each of whom have been extraordinarily efficient in lengthy reduction outings.
For now, Ureña permits the Mets to guard these two right-handers, who’ve been wanted typically in latest days.
“That’s part of our process here,” Mendoza mentioned “Knowing when to use them, for how long, how many days of recovery. Then just kind of be mindful of, if this guy’s going two innings he’s got two days off, and then you use him for another two innings, how many pitches? Were they stressful pitches? So there’s a lot that goes into it when we’re making these decisions.”
