Mets infielder Jed Lowrie is 'not close' to starting rehab assignment, says Mickey Callaway
The Mets' Jed Lowrie speaks during his introductory press conference at Citi Field on Jan. 16, 2019. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Stuck in Port St. Lucie purgatory, Jed Lowrie continues to work out at the Mets’ minor-league facility but seems to not be making substantial improvement, though the Mets are being secretive about his condition.
Lowrie remains “not close” to a rehab assignment, manager Mickey Callaway said Wednesday.
“Same thing,” Callaway said. “Just baseball activities in Florida.”
Asked if Lowrie has made tangible progress in recent weeks, Callaway said, “Like I said, he’s just doing baseball activities at this point.”
Lowrie has yet to play after signing a two-year, $20-million contract with the Mets in January. He missed all of spring training and the first quarter of the season with a left knee injury, then suffered a left hamstring strain in mid-May. In recent weeks, the Mets have kept it general in referencing issues with the left side of Lowrie’s lower body.
“He’s trying to overcome some of those left-side issues that we’ve talked about in the past,” Callaway said.
Will the Mets see Lowrie at all this season?
“That’s hard to say,” Callaway said. “There’s so much of the season left. We’ll just have to play that by ear.”
That is a less definitive/optimistic answer than Callaway gave June 22, when he said, “I mean, yeah,” he expected Lowrie to play in 2019. “But we don’t have a timeline on anything, so we’re not sure when.”
General manager Brodie Van Wagenen, Lowrie’s former agent, declined to clarify or elaborate on Lowrie’s status.
Prolific Pete
Pete Alonso was named the NL Rookie of the Month for June, his second such award out of three months. Alonso also won in April.
In 28 games last month, Alonso had a slash line of .307/.435/.653, collecting nine homers and 21 RBIs. He has at least nine homers every month this season.
Alonso and Jacob deGrom are the only Mets players to claim two Rookie of the Month awards. DeGrom went on to win NL Rookie of the Year in 2014.
Extra bases
Alonso and Jeff McNeil are the first pair of teammates in major-league history to make the same All-Star team within a year of their debuts, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. … Could Tomas Nido someday be a starting catcher in the majors? “I’m sure there are teams he could go start for right now,” Callaway said . . . Carlos Gomez picked free agency, instead of accepting an assignment to the minors after being designated for assignment by the Mets on Sunday… J.D. Davis (stomach virus) was unavailable Wednesday.
