New York Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns spoke to the media in Port St. Lucie, Florida on Friday afternoon and offered updates on a handful of pertinent topics surrounding the team.
Stearns announced that Kodai Senga will not throw for another seven to 10 days, slightly pushing back his injury timeline in an attempt to ensure that Senga goes through the proper healing and recovery process.
“Assuming all goes well, in a week to 10 days we will re-image to ensure that the proper healing and progression has taken place, that the inflammation has resolved, and then we will commence the return to throw program,” Stearns said.
Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized
New York’s ace was initially shut down last month with a moderate right posterior capsule strain and received a platelet-rich plasma injection in his right shoulder. An exact return date is unknown as of this time.
Stearns was also asked about the club’s commitment to Brett Baty and Mark Vientos amidst reports that linked the team to free agent veterans J.D. Martinez and J.D. Davis in recent days as they continue to search for proven commodities to add to the lineup. He hammered home the fact that the Mets feel as though both players need consistent reps to realize their full potential while also leaving the door open for outside additions down the road.
“I still think, and I’ll continue to think, that it’s important for us to give young players who have consistently succeeded at the minor-league level chances to contribute at the major-league level,” he said. “I think that’s important. Those two guys certainly fall into that category. I’ve also been consistent that that needs to happen over the course of the year. It may not need to happen exactly on Opening Day. It can. And we are still sorting through that.”
He also said that he has been happy with the pitching staff’s overall performance throughout spring training. Mets pitchers lead the majors in team ERA this spring at 2.57, which Stearns believes is a product of the unit’s hard work during the offseason.
“From our pitchers though, what I’ve been most impressed with is almost everyone came into camp in a wonderful spot,” he said. “They had worked incredibly hard in the offseason. They had worked on what we as an organization had asked them to work on. Whether that was refining a pitch, developing a new pitch, getting their bodies in the right spot. And I think we are seeing that pay some dividends here in camp.”
Stearns also mentioned that Edwin Díaz, who left camp to witness the birth of his third child, will be back in a couple of days. Díaz made his first spring training appearance on Monday after missing all of last season with an injury, which Stearns said stuck out as a particularly notable moment.
“What we saw the other night with his first appearance was one of the coolest spring training moments I’ve ever seen,” he said. “For that level of intensity, what it felt like in a spring training ballpark was pretty cool. So, I am excited to experience that for the first time on this side of these things with 40-plus thousand fans at Citi Field and hopefully that happens on Opening Day.”
