JUPITER, Fla. — A.J. Minter isn’t ready to declare himself prepared for the Opening Day roster, however he took a major step in that route on Wednesday.
The lefty reliever, who has taken it sluggish in camp after present process left hip surgical procedure final season, pitched an ideal fifth inning in opposition to the Cardinals in his Grapefruit League debut.
It was Minter’s first time going through hitters in a sport since Aug. 11 of final 12 months.
Total, he threw 10 pitches (eight of which had been strikes) and completed with one strikeout.
“The first one is always the hardest,” Minter stated on a day the Mets received 2-0 at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. “We definitely checked a box today and it was definitely successful.”
Minter arrived in January on a two-year contract price $22 million because the Mets’ largest bullpen splash of the offseason. Minter, 31, spent the primary eight seasons of his main league profession with the Braves.
The plan is for Minter to begin pitching each third sport in spring coaching, with a watch towards the March 27 opener in Houston. However the Mets aren’t going to hurry Minter, who has estimated he would possibly want at the least 5 appearances in exhibition video games to be prepared for the season.
“It’s hard to tell,” Minter stated, when requested about Opening Day. “I’m going to do every part I can, however on the similar time we’re going to be sensible about it. And if which means taking a number of additional weeks, it takes a number of additional weeks.
“The hardest thing is just being patient and not pushing things and I think we have done a really good job of having a plan together and saying no, telling me no when I need to be told no. The training staff has been great. The coaching staff has been great. [Wednesday] was definitely a long time coming. It was a lot of hard work this offseason, and it’s all starting to pay off.”
Minter struck out Alec Burleson on a cutter for the second out of the inning to spotlight his afternoon. Minter threw two four-seam fastballs, every of which registered 93 mph.
Was he happy with that velocity?
“Yeah, but if I’m honest with you, no,” stated Minter, who averaged 94.5 mph with the four-seamer final season. “Of course I want to see it a little higher, but I think that is just part of you want to simulate those game scenarios, and throwing bullpens and live [batting practice] you don’t get that extra adrenaline, so the plan is to keep throwing in games and hopefully we’ll see that velocity creep back up.”
Minter pitched to a 2.62 ERA in 39 appearances for the Braves final season. Mets brass was intrigued by Minter’s success in opposition to each lefties and righties. Lefties had a .684 OPS in opposition to Minter final season. Righties had a .603 OPS in opposition to him.
“He is a big weapon, there is a reason we brought him in — this is a guy who has a World Series ring, which is something a lot of us don’t have,” supervisor Carlos Mendoza stated. “He is used to pitching in high leverage and as a lefty this is a guy who can get righties out. When you look at those numbers, that four-seam, changeup, cutter, those are elite pitches. With the way teams are deploying their roster, when you have a guy that can get lefties and righties out it’s important.”
Minter appreciates the way through which he’s been embraced by the Mets after pitching for the rival Braves his whole profession.
“It feels like I am part of the family now,” Minter stated.
