MIAMI -- Mets left-hander Sean Manaea won't throw for two weeks after he experienced a setback in his return from a right oblique strain, manager Carlos Mendoza said Tuesday. The Mets had been hoping to get him back in the rotation in mid- to late April, but now he likely won't return until at least late May.
Mendoza said Manaea reported feeling some discomfort in the oblique a couple days ago as he started to ramp up his throwing, and an MRI revealed inflammation. Manaea received a platelet-rich plasma injection on Monday.
¡°He¡¯s gonna go two weeks of no throwing, and then we've got to start building him back up again,¡± Mendoza said. ¡°We have to revisit and see where we¡¯re at after that.¡±
Manaea was initially shut down in late February with the oblique strain, and he began throwing the week of March 10 at the beginning of a full Spring Training-style progression, which takes the better part of six weeks.
Mendoza also provided injury updates on right-hander Paul Blackburn (15-day injured list) and All-Star second baseman Jeff McNeil (10-day IL).
¡°[Blackburn] started his throwing progression yesterday,¡± Mendoza said. ¡°It went well.¡±
As for whether Blackburn would return from the 15-day IL stint when he comes eligible next week, Mendoza wasn¡¯t certain.
¡°That I¡¯m not sure,¡± he said. ¡°I gotta talk to the pitching coaches, I gotta talk to the trainers, and [see] how we want to build him back up. We want to see 55, 65, 75 [pitches], and then how quick can we do that? So we will have those discussions here pretty quickly.¡±
Regarding McNeil, Mendoza said: ¡°I¡¯m not sure [if he¡¯s taking] BP, but he¡¯s taking swings. Tee, toss, regular baseball. Eighty, 85 percent, so all positive there.¡±