New York Mets starting pitcher Frankie Montas has begun throwing and is playing catch up to 60 feet, according to manager Carlos Mendoza on Wednesday ahead of his team’s series finale against the Miami Marlins.
The veteran right-hander, who signed a two-year, $34 million deal to join the Mets over the winter, was shut down almost immediately at the start of spring training due to a high-grade lat strain. He was shut down for approximately seven weeks before resuming baseball activities.
“Everything is good from that end,” Mendoza added.
Montas remains on schedule for a return and Mets debut in May, as he still needs to undergo a proper spring-training-like ramp-up period to prepare for the 2025 season. The 31-year-old is the latest reclamation project taken on by president of baseball operations David Stearns. He went 7-11 with a 4.84 ERA in 150.2 innings last season with the Cincinnati Reds and Milwaukee Brewers.
He could now have a similar time of arrival as his former Athletics teammate, Sean Manaea, New York’s ace last season who was shut down for an additional two weeks on Tuesday after experiencing added inflammation in his injured right oblique.
Their absences have forced the Mets to piece together the bottom of their five-man rotation to start the season, giving looks to Tylor Megill and Griffin Canning. Once the schedule begins to pick up later this month, the unit is expected to expand to a six-man unit.
