Mets infielder Jed Lowrie is said to be a “full go” for Mets workouts, manager Luis Rojas told reporters including Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. He’ll participate in a sim game at Citi Field today. Lowrie has been absent with a variety of nebulous injuries to his left side, seemingly stemming from an initial knee injury. Those injuries limited the 36-year-old to just nine games last year, his first with the Mets. He entered this year’s first iteration of Spring Training in a brace, apparently dealing with some lingering effects from last year’s health issues. It’s encouraging to hear that Lowrie seems to be in better shape now, but it remains to be seen just how often Rojas will deploy him in a somewhat crowded infield mix. This year marks the final year in the two-year, $20MM contract Lowrie inked prior to last year. And between last year’s injury-plagued season and a shortened campaign in 2020, it’s looking like the Mets’ two-year investment in Lowrie is going largely by the wayside.
Other injury-related notes from around baseball…
- Brewers right-hander Corey Knebel is looking good in Brewers camp as he recovers from Tommy John surgery, per a report from Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. Knebel missed all of last year after undergoing the procedure in the spring, but he’s ramped up to throwing live batting practice in the Brewers’ return to action. As McCalvy says, manager Craig Counsell and pitching coach Chris Hook still want to be careful with Knebel, who’s a little more than a year removed from surgery. That said, it seems like Knebel should figure into Milwaukee’s bullpen mix this year, augmenting a unit that already looks formidable with Josh Hader at the helm. The tandem of Hader and Knebel, who was an All-Star in 2017, could form the backbone of one of baseball’s deadliest bullpens.
- After an elbow-related scare this spring, Angels righty Griffin Canning says he’s feeling “10 times better” than he did a few months ago, according to Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. That’s encouraging news for Angels fans who might have been panicking when ongoing elbow issues became a topic of focus during Spring Training. Luckily, those elbow troubles weren’t due to a tear in the UCL, so Canning was able to avoid an invasive procedure. A PRP injection seems to have worked wonders for Canning, and the hope is that he’ll maintain good health down the road. All told, it seems like Canning should be able to contribute in some capacity to the Angels’ shortened season—great news after an impressive rookie season.
Love the name of the Brewers’ pitching coach…Chris Hook! I hope Grant Balfour is the assist pc!
I like the unintentional shout out to former Cal Poly Mustangs catcher and Marlins farmhand Chris Hoo via BBREF auto-link, too.
@calpolystangs
Knebel is such a weapon for Mil –
Love the old school power curve (hammer)
Won’t the Mets get out of paying much of this year’s Lowrie contract as a result of the shortened season? Between seeing him and Cespedes on the field, it seems almost unbelievable. Of course, it’s still early.
I think there are shenanigans going on with Lowrie. I think he’s done but for financial reasons has to pretend he’s still trying to comeback. Thing is if this is the case it’s for the benefit of the Wilpons, dunno what he gets out of it but the whole thing seems fishy. Just seems like he’s avoiding retiring due to an inability to play for one reason or another.
@Cosmo The Mets may have an insurance policy on Lowrie that insists short of doctors saying he can no longer play, Lowrie has to keep coming to camp and making the effort.
He might have a soft tissue injury of the kind that’s impossible to conclusively diagnose, meaning he has to keep playing out the string.
It hardly matters, though. With Syndergaard out, the Mets aren’t going anywhere.
Good news about Canning. With him able to contribute it helps take some pressure and innings off the relief pitchers and other young starters. If the Halos can keep a healthy rotation then they should have a chance to get back to the playoffs.
Could be important, as it seems 50/50 Tehran opts out
@DGHalos714 above
“If the Halos can keep a healthy rotation then they should have a chance to get back to the playoffs.”
With respect that is akin to expecting a full (60 game) season of Cespedes & Lowrie (above) or Stanton & Judge – with the addendum there of Thurman Munson coming back to life and replacing Gary Sanchez.
Ever since 2014 (when I thought the Angels were the best team in baseball by a distance) it seems as if the rotation has been cursed.
(Quick addendum of my own – that wasn’t meant as a thoughtless reference to Tyler Skaggs, by the way)
Imagine a world where Ohtani, Heaney, Canning, Bundy and Terhan make 10 starts apiece…
Looks like a world where the Angels don’t win many games even in a shortened season.
Yeah the shorter season improves the Angles chances greatly…
If the batting line-up gets hot during the “irregular” season – it’ll cover up a heap of naughties and they have that potency.
I hope we all get to find out.
Oh good ,Lowrie is healthy, too bad there won’t be a season
Is it me or is almost every article here closed to discussion, every post erased? Who’s running this place?
And thanks to this comment they’ll close this discussion in 5, 4….
Perhaps if this place had a semblance of supervision things could be nipped in the bud instead of letting the nonsense fester and then simply erasing everything once every 8 hours or so… again, who is running this place? You can’t blame the trolls, they are what they are, someone in charge of this place needs to take charge and do a better job. Maybe check in more than once a day. Ridiculous.
Cosmo – I count 10 articles from today that they closed the comments on. You’re right in that they should police the trolls who do nothing but call names and throw insults around, like that Weller77 guy. But for me, the comments are why I come here. They own the site so they can do what they want. But I believe in the free market and as a customer, I’ll go somewhere else for baseball conversation if they become the thought police.
Exactly. The comments, discussion is why most of us are here. Those who run this site need to do a better job of moderating discussions BEFORE they get out of control rather than just slash and burn after the fact or the more sane heads will just leave and have our intelligent discussions elsewhere. What is the point of having a discussion on an internet thread if the discussion is going to be deleted by powers that be who are too lazy to step in before such slash and burn tactics are necessary? Anybody listening?
Where’s the damn schedule? Let’s go!