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PORT ST. LUCIE — Are 25 days enough to prepare for a season?
The Mets’ biggest concern will be Jacob deGrom, who missed the second half of last season with a low-grade tear in his ulnar collateral ligament. Among the questions heading into spring training will be the manner in which manager Buck Showalter and pitching coach Jeremy Hefner intend to proceed with the two-time Cy Young award winner, who owned a 1.08 ERA in his 15 starts last season.
Max Scherzer, 37, has been a workhorse during his Hall of Fame career, but he also showed his mortality last October, when a dead arm prevented him from taking the ball for Game 6 of the NLCS against the Braves.
The Mets have other pitchers returning from injuries and dead arms. Most notably, Carlos Carrasco underwent surgery last October to remove a bone fragment from his right elbow. The prognosis at the time was the veteran right-hander would be ready for spring training.
Carrasco missed most of last season rehabbing from a torn right hamstring he sustained in spring training. He will turn 35 later this month and could be an important piece to the rotation, but the Mets will have to gauge how hard they can push Carrasco, and how soon.
Taijuan Walker emerged as an All-Star for the Mets last season, but became a different pitcher in the second half as his innings increased. It was Walker’s first full season since 2017 with the Diamondbacks. He underwent Tommy John surgery the following year.
David Peterson underwent surgery last season for a foot fracture and will be attempting to show the Mets he can return to the dependable form he displayed in 2020.
Tylor Megill arrived in June from Triple-A Syracuse and was a staff savior for much of the season. But the right-hander wilted over the final month after surpassing a career-high innings total.
The Mets are planning to open their gates for free to fans for a March 18 intra-squad game at Clove Park in Port St. Lucie, Fla., The Post has learned.
This remains in the planning stage because there were still ongoing attempts by the Mets to add an official spring training game, or “B” game against an opponent on that date. As of Friday morning, scheduling spring training games remained a fluid matter throughout the sport.
But if the intrasquad game comes off on the March 18, it would come a day before the Mets begin their official spring training schedule against the Nationals.
The Mets have two intentions with the intrasquad game. First, with a shortened spring training, they are looking to add as many game situations as possible. They are discussing, for example, using the off-days in the spring schedule as a voluntary camp day for anyone who wants to participate in what could be “B” games vs opponents or more intrasquad games.
Second, the Mets see an opportunity for a goodwill gesture toward fans who could be upset at the lockout that shortened spring training.
— With Joel Sherman
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