Minter throws first live BP, eyes Opening Day but 'going to be smart'
Anthony DiComo
@AnthonyDiComoPORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- In A.J. Minter¡¯s estimation, the left-hander remains slightly ahead of schedule in his bid to be ready for Opening Day ¡ which isn¡¯t the same thing as saying he¡¯ll definitely be there.
At this point in Minter¡¯s progression back from left hip surgery, he isn¡¯t entirely sure. But Sunday marked a notable step in the right direction, as Minter faced hitters for the first time since his August operation.
¡°We¡¯re going to be smart about this,¡± Minter said. ¡°If I have to miss a few days or a couple weeks, my goal is to help this team at the end of the season. ¡ They¡¯re the boss, and they¡¯re going to make that ultimate decision, and I¡¯m going to stand by it. But the competitor in me, I hate missing games. I hate being on the IL.¡±
Entering camp, Minter was a question mark for the Mets¡¯ March 27 opener, mostly because the 31-year-old wasn¡¯t sure how his body would respond once he began pitching again. Mets trainers continue to ¡°hold the reins on me,¡± Minter said, limiting his workload in hopes of keeping him as healthy as possible.
They finally loosened those reins a bit on Sunday, allowing Minter to throw around 20-25 pitches to a group of hitters including Pete Alonso, Starling Marte, Drew Gilbert and Joey Meneses. The outing featured more hard contact and fewer swings-and-misses than Minter would have liked, but he came away from it feeling healthy and confident. His final pitch sawed off Marte, cracking the outfielder¡¯s bat.
¡°Physically, it felt good,¡± Minter said. ¡°That¡¯s all I can really ask for.¡±
Minter expects to throw at least one more live batting practice session before debuting in Grapefruit League games. With three and a half weeks until Opening Day, that leaves plenty of time for him to be ready, but also relatively little margin for error. The Mets¡¯ bullpen decisions will hinge in large part upon the health of Minter and right-hander Dedniel N¨²?ez, another high-leverage relief arm who has not pitched since last year. Both are questionable for March 27.
¡°I¡¯m horrible at saying no,¡± Minter said. ¡°I¡¯m a competitor. I want to get ready. But as I get older, as I¡¯m a little bit wiser ¡ learning from the past, you have to get your work in. You can¡¯t just rush in.¡±
A longtime stalwart of the Braves¡¯ bullpen, Minter admitted to some ¡°weirdness¡± reporting to his new club for the first time, which has dissipated over the first few weeks of camp.
¡°We were rivals on the Braves and the Mets,¡± Minter said. ¡°Your whole career, you want to do good against the Mets, you want to pitch good against them, because that¡¯s a team that we know it¡¯s going to come down to the end. And now coming into Spring Training -- it took a little bit, a few days -- but now it feels like family here.¡±