James McCann was activated from the 10-day injured list prior to today’s 5-3 win over the Marlins, and the catcher went 1-for-4 with a single and a run scored in his first game since May 10. McCann had to undergo surgery to fix a broken left hamate bone, costing him a little beyond the initial six-week recovery timeline. Nevertheless, McCann is back behind the plate and looking to finally get his Queens tenure on track. Since signing a four-year, $40.6MM free agent deal in the 2020-21 offseason, McCann has hit only .227/.290/.341 over his first 142 games and 476 plate appearances in a Mets uniform.
Neither Tomas Nido or Patrick Mazeika shone while McCann was out, so there isn’t much chance of McCann losing his starting job….unless the aggressive Mets either added a short-term catcher (i.e. a pending free agent like Willson Contreras) or perhaps promoted star prospect Francisco Alvarez. While Alvarez is crushing Double-A pitching, it would be bold to see the Mets promote him past Triple-A and directly to the majors, so the club would certainly prefer to just see McCann flash some of his good hitting form from the 2019-20 seasons.
More from the Amazins…
- There was some speculation that Max Scherzer could be activated from his own IL stint this weekend, but the ace will instead make another minor league rehab start. As Scherzer told MLB.com’s Paige Leckie and other reporters, he “got a little sore” after tossing his last rehab outing, plus a subsequent bullpen session, and continued rehab on his left oblique. “In order to pitch and to start [in the majors] on Sunday, I was going to have to be perfect….I couldn’t check that box,” Scherzer said. This doesn’t really count as a setback for the former Cy Young Award winner, given that a return tomorrow would have put him ahead of schedule from the 6-to-8 week timeline initially attached to his recovery. Should all go well in this next rehab outing, Scherzer might be able to return to the Mets for their series against the Rangers next weekend (July 2-3).
- Speaking of rehab assignments, right-hander Colin Holderman will start for Triple-A Syracuse on Sunday, Mets skipper Buck Showalter told Leckie and other reporters. Holderman was (retroactively) placed on the 15-day IL on June 8 due to a right shoulder impingement, but it seems as though the rookie is making good progress. Over his first 11 1/3 innings in the majors, Holderman has posted a 3.18 ERA, 30.4% strikeout rate, and 8.7% walk rate.
- Jacob deGrom threw his second live batting-practice session, tossing over 20 pitches. (The New York Post’s Mike Puma was among those to report the news.) DeGrom has another BP session scheduled, and he could then perhaps be lined up for a minor league rehab assignment. It marks yet another step in deGrom’s recovery from a stress fracture in his scapula, as deGrom has yet to pitch this season — or in almost a full year, as deGrom’s appearance on July 7, 2021 was his last before a forearm injury eventually ended his 2021 campaign.
- Left-handed relief pitching will be among the Mets’ priorities at the trade deadline this summer, Jon Heyman of the New York Post writes. While the club will look for bullpen help in general, Chasen Shreve and Joely Rodriguez are the only southpaws in New York’s bullpen, and both have been a little shaky this year.
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