Mets' Elieser Hernandez headed to IL with shoulder strain
Elieser Hernandez reported soremess after an outing last week and his arm strength must be built up. Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa Loarca
MIAMI — The Mets’ pitching depth has taken another hit.
Righthander Elieser Hernandez will open the season on the injured list with a right shoulder strain, general manager Billy Eppler said Wednesday. He reported soreness after an outing last week and was shut down for several days but has already resumed playing catch.
“We’ll just have to build him back up a little bit,” Eppler said.
Manager Buck Showalter recently said he viewed Hernandez, acquired in a minor trade with the Marlins in November, as a member of the starting pitching depth chart, albeit with the ability to move to the bullpen. He did both over parts of five seasons with Miami, neither particularly well.
Hernandez entered spring training with a chance of winning a spot on the Opening Day roster but pitched poorly in Grapefruit League play, posting 7.45 ERA in five appearances. He never tossed more than 2 2/3 innings.
Montes de Oca down
Bryce Montes de Oca, a hard-throwing righthanded reliever with a lengthy injury history, had arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow to remove multiple bone/cartilage chips. He had been diagnosed with a stress reaction in the elbow two weeks ago.
Regarding Montes de Oca’s eventual return to the mound, Eppler said the Mets will “see what the takeaways and the findings are after” the operation.
Montes de Oca, who turns 27 next month, appeared in three games for the Mets last year and would be a strong bullpen candidate if and when he is healthy.
Extra bases
Edwin Diaz (knee surgery) and Jose Quintana (rib surgery) will travel to New York early next week. They’ll be based there during their monthslong rehabs, Eppler said . . . Carlos Carrasco, who had his previous start skipped because of what the Mets called elbow “maintenance,” said his outing in a minor-league spring-training game Tuesday went smoothly. He wound up with a bruise after taking a line drive off his right foot but said he is fine . . . Max Scherzer threw 100 pitches in his last exhibition outing and should have a normal pitch count Thursday against the Marlins. “I wouldn’t take him much more than (100 pitches),” Showalter said. “See what his eyes are telling me.” . . . Scherzer will be the first pitcher to start both for and against the Mets on Opening Day in his career. He pitched against them in 2015 (opposite Bartolo Colon) and 2019 (versus Jacob deGrom). The only other active pitcher to do so: Madison Bumgarner (Arizona).
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.
