PORT ST. LUCIE – After missing almost all of last season with various leg ailments, Jed Lowrie arrived to spring training Sunday wearing a brace that extended from his left mid-thigh to almost the ankle.
And the veteran infielder wasn’t making any promises he’ll be ready for Opening Day with the Mets.
“It’s always kind of a fluid situation anyway and I am just going to go out there and do everything that I can,” Lowrie said at Clover Park. “As of now we’re just building up with that intent.”
Lowrie, a former CAA client of general manager Brodie Van Wagenen’s who arrived on a two-year contract worth $20 million, was limited to seven at-bats for the Mets in September last season, after sustaining a strained capsule in his left knee upon arriving to camp. Lowrie appeared on the way back in May, but was shut down from a rehab assignment at Triple-A Syracuse with a strained left hamstring. By midseason Mets officials were terming Lowrie’s injuries as then impacting his right side. Included was a calf strain.
Lowrie declined to provide a diagnosis for what is causing him to wear the brace, other than to say it’s related to his knee. But he indicated he plans to participate Monday in the Mets’ first full-squad workout.
“This is just a brace that alleviates my symptoms and makes me feel like myself,” Lowrie said. “I am just going to manage the best I can.”
In the offseason, Lowrie says he got back into a “good” routine and did the physical therapy that was necessary to prepare for the season. In 157 games for Oakland in 2018 he slashed .267/.353/.448 with 23 homers and 99 RBIs.
Lowrie, who turns 36 in April, said he hasn’t discussed his role with new manager Luis Rojas. The Mets signed him with the idea he would play third base and fill in at second for Robinson Cano.
Jeff McNeil is expected to see the majority of his action at third base, with Cano at second.
“I am just excited to be here and get back out on the field with the guys and take it day by day,” Lowrie said.
Lowrie participated Sunday in baseball activities, which Van Wagenen considered a positive first step.
“He’s had a full offseason of strength, growth and progression,” Van Wagenen said. “We’ll have to continue to do that and work him through those drills over the course of the coming days and see where we are. Over the course of the next week or two.”
— Additional reporting by Ken Davidoff
