Carlos Carrasco’s shift to the 60-day injured list earlier this week officially pushed back his Mets debut through at least the end of May.
Acting general manager Zack Scott extended that timeline even further on Saturday, saying Carrasco’s projected return to the mound likely is “not an early June thing” as the right-hander continues to recover from the torn right hamstring he suffered in mid-March.
“It’s hard to know exactly when. Obviously, we put him on the 60-day, so that sets a best-case scenario up for early June. Whether he hits that or not, I’d say that it’s probably in our interests to take it slow,” Scott said before Saturday’s game against the Diamondbacks. “This guy is really impressive as a person, as a competitor. He’s really tough, he’s gone through a lot in his career, he cares a lot, and he desperately wants to take the ball, which I really respect and appreciate. With players like that, we have to make sure we’re careful that he’s not trying to push too soon.
“So I’m hesitant to put exact time frames on it, but I would assume it’s not an early June thing, in that we want to make sure we do this right by him, and also right by the team. That’s the goal there, to make sure when he comes back, he’s back for good.”
Scott said it’s “definitely a relief” that ace Jacob deGrom is “ready to roll” to start Sunday’s series finale after missing his previous start with a right lat inflammation.
According to Scott, the Mets also are hoping injured pitchers Seth Lugo (elbow) and Noah Syndergaard (Tommy John surgery) are ”ready in a week or so” to begin minor league rehabilitation assignments. Lugo’s return is still targeted for late May, with Syndergaard’s for “sometime in June.”
The 34-year-old Carrasco, who was obtained in the offseason deal that imported shortstop Francisco Lindor from Cleveland, had been closing in on beginning a rehab assignment this weekend until the team announced Thursday he had suffered a setback.
“Part of a typical rehab progression, especially with soft tissue injuries, at some point you have to push the player to see where their limits are,” Scott said. “A lot of those type of injuries, their progression is feedback-based. You can look at MRIs all day long but a lot of injuries, we ramp up intensity and kind of see how the person responds to it
“There was talk of him doing a rehab outing or starting his rehab progression in games. That’s not going to happen, that’s gonna wait a while. I’m not going to put a timetable on it, because it’s an estimate that’s based on how he feels, how he responds. But we’re gonna back off on the hamstring a little bit right now.”
