As expected, New York Mets right-hander Carlos Carrasco faced live batters for the first time at Citi Field on Tuesday afternoon.
Mets manager Luis Rojas said pregame on Tuesday that thing’s went really well during the bullpen session, and Carrasco threw about 20 pitches to Billy McKinney, Jose Peraza, and Kevin Pillar.
It was reported last week that the right-hander’s velocity has been in mid-season form during his side sessions, and Rojas said today he mixed in his whole arsenal and the amped up Carrasco was sitting “in the mid-90’s” with his fastball velocity.
“He was really excited, he said his heart was beating really fast.. It was exciting to watch him pitch there, and it’s exciting to hear that he was a little bit amped up just to get on the mound here at Citi Field and face some guys,” Rojas said.
Rojas added that this was a big step for Carrasco in his journey back to the big league team, and they’re looking for him to throw another live bullpen session sometime this weekend.
It’s been a long road back for Carrasco who first landed on the injured list with a right hamstring tear back on March 18. Thankfully for the Mets starting rotation, he finally seems to be heading in the right direction towards making his debut in orange and blue.
