LI's Stephen Ridings happy to be with Mets
Mets pitcher Stephen Ridings during a spring training workout, Sunday Feb. 19, 2023 in Port St. Lucie, FL. Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa Loarca
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Stephen Ridings is behind most of the rest of the Mets’ pitchers at this early stage of spring training. He’s still a couple of weeks away, in his estimation, from throwing off a mound, the result of a torn lat late last season and his new club’s caution, given his many maladies in recent years.
But that’s OK, he said. An injury-ruined 2022 offered unwanted perspective that makes this year and his relative health feel sweeter.
“There’s a lot of season,” said Ridings, 27. “To get to play in any of it this year is a win for me.”
A Commack native who went to St. Anthony’s, Ridings is a 6-8, 220-pound, thoroughly bearded, hard-throwing, righthanded wild card for the Mets’ bullpen. They claimed him off waivers from the Yankees in November. Ridings had an impressive five-game cameo for the Yankees in August 2021 but has barely pitched since, missing virtually all of last season.
What initially seemed like a back injury, then a shoulder problem, actually was a neck issue that resolved in time for Ridings to pitch in a couple of minor-league games last September, he said. But then he hurt his lat in his second appearance, ending his season and ultimately leading to his departure from the Yankees.
He has switched teams but still is a hometown guy.
“Some of the fans asked yesterday, oh, what camp do you like better?” Ridings said. “I didn’t really get to do anything in camp last year [with the Yankees], so I don’t really have a lot to compare it to, but I’m having a good time so far.”
He hasn’t done much with the Mets yet, either. But they’re taking a shot that they can help him stay on the mound — and that he can help them win.
“We’re just taking things slow . . . I know they don’t want to rush me,” Ridings said. “I assume, I hope there’s going to be opportunity. They’ve picked up a lot of guys and they’ve had plenty of chances to take me off the roster if they wanted to. And they haven’t. So I hope that’s a sign they value me and see me as a contributor.”
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.
