PORT ST. LUCIE — Taijuan Walker threw a 40-pitch bullpen session Tuesday but isn’t ready to predict he will be ready to start the season with the Mets.

The right-hander underwent surgery on Jan. 14 to remove damaged cartilage from his right knee. Speaking to reporters for the first time since his surgery was revealed, Walker said a piece of cartilage fragmented in his kneecap during offseason workouts, and he opted to immediately undergo the procedure.

“I don’t want to really put a timetable to it, but I feel good,” Walker said. “I’m progressing to it. I have been running, but we just want to make sure the knee is strong and stable now that I am able to work with trainers and strength coaches.”

Walker indicated he is probably one to two weeks behind the rest of the pitchers in spring training. Another Mets pitcher returning from surgery, Carlos Carrasco, has already faced live hitters. Carrasco underwent surgery last October to remove a bone fragment from his right elbow that he says he pitched with for the past seven seasons.

Carrasco was asked why he finally decided to undergo the surgery.

“I want to push myself to play more baseball,” he said. “It’s hard to walk away. I just want to continue to pitch, and I think it was the time to do it, seven years with that, so we did and everything is fine.”

Both veteran pitchers, according to manager Buck Showalter, will proceed with caution. Showalter indicated it’s possible Walker and Carrasco will be limited to short stints to begin the season.

“We’ll see where we get with those guys,” Showalter said. “We are approaching it like they are close. It may be as simple as the length of their outings aren’t there early on. The question is do we want them to pitch somewhere else to get stretched out or start them with a three-inning stint?”

Walker was an All-Star last season but struggled in the second half to finish with a 4.47 ERA. He said he’s not certain if the innings buildup — he hadn’t pitched a full season since 2017 — contributed to his late-season slump.

“At the end of the day I just didn’t do my job,” Walker said. “I didn’t go out there and perform the way I did in the first half. So my goal is just to be consistent throughout the whole year this year.”