Justin Verlander has one more test to pass before Mets debut
Justin Verlander looks on from the Mets dugout against the Marlins on March 30. Credit: AP/Lynne Sladky
SAN FRANCISCO — Justin Verlander has one more major test to pass before he is deemed ready for his Mets debut.
After facing hitters on Sunday for the first time since getting hurt close to a month ago, he is scheduled to make a minor-league rehabilitation start with a to-be-announced affiliate on Friday.
If the days before and after go well, Verlander will be lined up to pitch for the Mets for the first time during their visit to the Tigers — May 3 if they keep him on normal rest, May 4 if they give him an extra day.
Comerica Park was his home stadium when he pitched for Detroit from 2005-17. His 189 starts there are more than three times as many as his next-most-frequented ballpark.
“That’s where it looks to be falling at this point,” manager Buck Showalter said. “He’s feeling good. He’s anxious to get back.”
Verlander is trying to return from a strained teres major, a muscle near his right armpit. He suffered the injury shortly before Opening Day. He has been working out at the team’s Port St. Lucie, Florida, facility for the past week and a half.
On a practice field Sunday afternoon, he tossed three innings and 43 pitches during live batting practice. Showalter said it was “all good” and Verlander “got after it for a couple of pitches toward the end.”
That sets him up for about four innings and 60 pitches during his minors appearance. He would be limited, then, in his debut to about five innings and 75 pitches.
The Mets are OK with that. Their plan is for a one-off rehab game, according to Showalter.
“It may shorten up where we would take him the first outing or two, which would be fine,” Showalter said.
Pete on Barry
With the Mets playing at the home ballpark of the majors’ all-time home run king, let’s put Pete Alonso’s hot start in a Barry Bonds context.
Alonso had homered 10 times in the Mets’ 22 games entering play Sunday. That already was the most before May in franchise history, with another week to pad that mark.
If Alonso somehow maintained that extremely impressive clip over a full season, it comes out to 73.6 home runs. Bonds hit 73, a single-season record, in 2001.
That is a pace and feat Alonso simply cannot fathom.
“That’s pretty bonkers,” he said. “I’m just happy to be playing the way I’m playing. It takes a long time to have a good season. I just want to be the best I can every day . . . I can’t wrap my mind around that. That would be sick. Hey, if it happens, that would be something.”
Alonso was only 6 during the 2001 season, too young to really remember Bonds’ history-making. But he has a habit of watching old videos of Bonds — No. 71 to edge Mark McGwire’s single-season record, No. 756 to break Hank Aaron’s career record, his epic 2004 at-bat versus Eric Gagne — when the mood strikes.
“Not all the time, but any time I’m bored, I love watching great hitters hit,” Alonso said. “I love watching great swings, especially on great pitches.”
Extra bases
Showalter on Brandon Nimmo’s diving catches, more common frequently: “He’s finishing plays. It’s one thing to get a good break. Can you get there? He’s finishing plays safely, too, knock on wood. He’s picking his spots.” . . . Omar Narvaez’s rehab from a left calf strain, expected to keep him out until early June or so, is “slow but sure,” according to Showalter. “Those calf injuries, one thing we do know is if you go too fast and you jump the gun, we could lose him for the year,” he said.
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.
