Mets' Max Scherzer to throw live BP, feels close to return from strained oblique

Max Scherzer is on a path to begin frustrating hitters once again in the near future.

At least in some capacity.

Scherzer, who is in his fourth week of recovery from a moderate- to high-grade oblique strain, played long toss in the outfield grass before the Mets' game against the Brewers on Tuesday. He is scheduled to throw a live batting practice session on Thursday.

"Half the battle is getting back to 90 percent and the second half of this battle is from 90 percent to 100 percent," Scherzer said. "With the trainers here, we’ve done a great job of getting back to 90 percent, but I’m still in the fight here to try to get back to 100 percent. We’ve done good work to get to this point but I’ve still got a lot in front of me."

Scherzer pulled himself from his start against the Cardinals on May 18 after feeling a "zing" in his side. Early on in his recovery, Scherzer received a platelet-rich plasma injection, he said on Tuesday.

That seemed to expedite how he felt after the injury.

The original timeline for a similar injury was spelled out as six to eight weeks, but Scherzer said that timeline means nothing. He is being cautious as he works back to 100 percent.

"You just gradually keep increasing your workload," Scherzer said. "You’ve got to be very cognizant of what you’re doing and be very aware of your body from when you stress it to how does it respond and understand what’s going on, knowing what’s normal and what’s not."

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Getting comfortable

Buck Showalter said he has loose return dates in mind for Scherzer and Jacob deGrom, who is working back from a stress reaction in his right scapula that was uncovered in spring training, but those are far from concrete.

DeGrom seems to be slightly behind Scherzer in his recovery, but upped his workload from last week's 19 pitches as he threw off a mound during a bullpen session on Monday.

"I’ve asked those questions like I’m sure you would or even a fan would: ‘Hey, best-case scenario. Hey, worst-case scenario,’" Showalter said. "I’ve got to get a window there. ... I’ve looked that possibilities of when they might show up, but I’m not married to it."

Scherzer said he has talked to other players around the league, including teammates Luis Guillorme and Francisco Lindor, about what he should expect to feel at each step of his recovery.

At this point, Scherzer said it is about trusting that oblique during his sessions but also remaining realistic and trusting the checkpoints along the way. He is hoping to pitch in one rehab assignment before making a return but is tempering those expectations.

"You can feel good, go out there and not feeling any symptoms whatsoever and you can overdo it at that point, overload the muscle and then you can have a setback," Scherzer said. "I can see very easily how you can have a setback. That’s the first and foremost thing on my mind is I really do not want to have a setback any which way."

On the mend

The Mets provided a few more updates on several other players that have landed on the injured list:

• Catcher James McCann, who had wrist surgery on May 17 to repair fractured hamate bone, had a bat in his hands on Monday. General manager Billy Eppler said that McCann is nearing a rehab assignment.

• Outfielder Travis Jankowski was back in the clubhouse. He underwent surgery to repair a fractured metacarpal bone in his left hand on May 27 and will undergo a scan next week to gauge the healing in the finger.

• Relief pitcher Trevor May, who has been out since May 3 with a stress reaction in lower part of left humerus, began throwing on June 10 and is up to 75 feet in long toss. He will undergo another scan before ramping up in distance and intensity.

• An MRI revealed a right shoulder impingement for fellow reliever Colin Holderman, who has been out since June 8. The Mets consider him "week-to-week."

Andrew Tredinnick is the Mets beat writer for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to all Mets analysis, news, trades and more, please subscribe today and download our app. 

Email: atredinnick@gannett.com Twitter: @andrew_tred

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Max Scherzer injury: NY Mets pitcher close to return