Clay Holmes is making progress in his rehabilitation from a broken right fibula and is scheduled to throw a bullpen session this week. However, the right-handed pitcher remains several weeks away from rejoining the New York Mets.
"I would love to say he’s ahead of schedule, but I don’t want to get ahead of myself and make that declaration," interim manager Andy Green said. "But it’s going well and we’re encouraged by that."
Holmes, who was the Mets' most effective starter before his injury with a 2.39 ERA in eight starts, is among the pitchers the team might consider trading before the Aug. 3 deadline, as he can opt out of his contract after this season.
In other injury news, Luis Robert Jr. has begun a minor league rehabilitation assignment with Triple-A Syracuse, where he is joined by Jorge Polanco, who is also rehabbing. Both players have been sidelined since April.
Green expressed optimism about the potential impact of Robert and Polanco returning to the Mets' lineup. "In Robert’s case it’s a right-handed bat that we have missed pretty obviously against left-handed pitching," Green noted. "It would be great to have Polanco — he really rounds out a lineup with an ability to hit from both sides, so the lineup gets lengthened."
He added, "I think some of the at-bats we have had late in games, when you have those guys you have more options, even if they are on the bench on a given day you have got more choices that work really well and I think it’s just a longer, more diverse lineup."
Regarding rookie A.J. Ewing, Green downplayed the possibility of a shift to the infield upon Robert's return. "You are talking about somebody adjusting to the big leagues and being locked in out in center field right now, which is where he’s been," Green stated.
The Mets have also signed outfielder Christopher Morel to a minor league contract. Morel, 27, previously played 22 games with the Marlins this season, posting a .425 OPS.