Mets notes: Marcus Stroman throws bullpen session; catcher Chance Sisco claimed off waivers
Marcus Stroman #0 of the Mets pitches during the first inning against the Atlanta Braves at Citi Field on Tuesday, June 22, 2021. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Marcus Stroman threw a bullpen session Friday and came out of it "on point," manager Luis Rojas said, but the Mets still are going to evaluate him Saturday.
Stroman was forced to leave after recording only three outs Tuesday with what the Mets termed "left hip soreness." An MRI was negative.
"He expects to make his start next time, but we still want to check out his progression from the hip," Rojas said. "Things have progressed, but we still wanted to see him today and see how he feels and to see what he’s able to do out there that’s part of his in-between-starts routine . . . His expectations are to throw. We’ve just got to reevaluate."
Catching help
The Mets claimed catcher Chance Sisco off waivers from the Orioles and optioned him to Triple-A Syracuse. They placed J.D. Davis (hand) on the 60-day injured list in a corresponding move. The Mets placed Tomas Nido (wrist) on the IL Thursday.
Villar placed on IL
Jonathan Villar was placed on the 10-day IL retroactive to June 22 with a right calf strain. Villar injured himself Monday while running the bases. Though Villar’s MRI came back clean, Rojas said he was concerned that the calf injury could aggravate Villar’s old hamstring injury, which he sustained in early June. The Mets recalled infielder Travis Blankenhorn in his stead.
Long stretch
The Mets began a stretch of 18 games in 17 days Friday, and Rojas said managing their short pitching staff will be the biggest challenge leading them into the All-Star break. While he thinks he’ll be able to manage innings limits for the position players coming off the injured list, the long rash of games, Friday’s doubleheader, a taxed bullpen and injured starters make for an especially difficult jigsaw puzzle.
"The pitching is the No. 1 thing," he said. "What happened this week, where Joey [Lucchesi] had his surgery yesterday and it was successful, thank God, and we had a couple guys step up here with the doubleheader, but also the loss of Stroman in that outing . . . Those challenges, we’re going to have to have guys step up and do what [Aaron] Loup did the other day and throw three innings.
"We’ll just pay attention to what the guys throwing back-to-back days, three days in a row or multiple innings. That’s the part that’s going to be challenging getting into the All-Star break."
Extra bases
Brandon Nimmo (finger) is still on track to return next week, though Rojas doesn’t have an exact day.
Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.
