Max Scherzer's rehab start goes well, and he could pitch for the Mets on Monday
Max Scherzer of the Mets reacts on the mound during the first inning against the Washington Nationals at Citi Field on Sept. 3. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Max Scherzer made a routine-seeming rehabilitation appearance Wednesday in his first and very likely only minor-league tuneup before returning to the majors early next week.
Pitching for Triple-A Syracuse, Scherzer felt “excellent,” he said, in tossing 3 2/3 innings and 59 pitches, giving up one run and three hits. He struck out seven and walked one.
“I’m ready,” Scherzer told reporters in Syracuse.
As long as he continues to feel well, the Mets expect Scherzer’s next start to come with the major-league team Monday against the Brewers. That is the first day he is eligible to return from the injured list. He has been out with left side irritation since exiting his Sept. 3 start early.
Scherzer said he wasn’t as sharp as normal with Syracuse, but he expected that after skipping a start.
“I threw my 60 pitches and got out of here ready to go,” he said. “I wanted to come here, get in a game, get in the flow of a game and make those mistakes. Now I can sharpen up and get ready for the next start.”
His minors cameo was something of a technicality. Although Scherzer indicated previously that he would have been healthy enough to pitch in the majors on Wednesday, he wasn’t allowed to because pitchers are required to spend a minimum of 15 days on the IL. The Mets made that move last week because, Scherzer said then, they needed the roster spot for another pitcher.
So that meant missing a second start.
“Believe me, Max is fine,” Showalter said Wednesday afternoon.
Waiting for Tylor
Tylor Megill isn’t quite ready for a return to the majors. Out since mid-June with a strained right shoulder, Megill will get what the Mets hope is one last rehab appearance, one inning- plus, with Syracuse on Friday, Showalter said.
That became necessary when his outing Tuesday, scheduled to happen over multiple innings, lasted just two outs instead. Megill gave up five runs with three hits and two walks, so he didn’t get to check the multi-inning box.
“That’s the last hurdle,” Showalter said.
Also on the rehab front, Drew Smith (strained right lat) is due to make back-to-back appearances with Syracuse on Friday and Saturday. That sets up Megill and Smith to join the Mets early in their road trip that starts Monday in Milwaukee.
Opportunity knocks
Asked specifically about Mark Vientos, who on Wednesday got his second start (both at DH) in five days on the roster, Showalter expressed an extreme openness to giving plenty of playing time to anyone who starts being productive. He is comfortable riding the hot hand (a concept that earlier in the year he distanced himself from in fear of wearing out that hot player).
“Oh yeah. Ooooh yeah,” he said. “If it’s hot, like a big horse, I’ll ride it. Let’s go. Show me.”
Lucchesi’s changeup
Joey Lucchesi now is on a five-day starter routine and is penciled in for three innings (40 pitches) with Syracuse on Friday, Showalter said. That is a departure from how the Mets had been using him — in short relief stints — in his comeback from June 2021 Tommy John surgery.
“He can go either way,” Showalter said.
It is not clear if Lucchesi, a lefthander, will pitch in the majors this year. The Mets have signaled in recent weeks that they are not in a hurry for that to happen.
Extra bases
The Mets and MTA had a news conference outside the Mets-Willets Point subway station, unveiling on-train PSAs voiced by the SNY trio of Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling. They encouraged fans to take public transportation to Citi Field through October “and hopefully it’ll go into November,” Hernandez said . . . Showalter’s latest ominous, unsolicited comment about Starling Marte (fractured right middle finger): “I haven’t gotten anything from Marte that makes us think it’s going to be imminent . . . So far we’ve dodged the long-term thing with this. If we can get it to a point where it heals, then he can do about anything. There’s a risk involved of having him pinch run and having it [get worse]. I think that’s where we will be cautious.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
