PORT ST. LUCIE — Ronny Mauricio’s spring won’t include a chance to take at-bats in the Grapefruit League.
The Mets infielder, who missed last season rehabbing from surgery to repair the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, still hasn’t progressed to the point he is ready to take that next step, according to Carlos Mendoza.
Early in camp, Mendoza indicated there was hope Mauricio would be playing in games by mid-March.
“I probably misspoke,” Mendoza said Sunday at Clover Park. “There’s not a setback, nothing there, he continues to progress well and we want to keep it that way. He’s getting close. When is that going to be? I am not sure. He continues to follow the program and continues to go through full activities and he is responding well.”
Mauricio underwent surgery in January of last year and had a subsequent procedure in August to remove scar tissue from the knee. The manager said Mauricio’s knee “flared up” in October or November.
“But after that it got to the point where everything is trending in the right direction, so there haven’t been more setbacks,” Mendoza said before the Mets lost 5-0 to the Astros in an exhibition game at Clover Park.
Mendoza began his pregame media session with a “shoutout” to St. John’s after the Red Storm won the Big East men’s basketball championship a night earlier.
“It’s been 25 years, right?” Mendoza said.
Mendoza, who noted the kinship between the Mets and St. John’s based on their Queens locales, said he watched the end of the Red Storm’s victory over Creighton on Saturday.
Tyler Zuber was removed from the game after getting hit in the right elbow with a comebacker in the sixth inning, but Mendoza said the move was precautionary and the reliever wasn’t injured.
Hayden Senger, who is competing for the backup catcher’s job with Francisco Alvarez set to begin the season on the injured list following surgery for a broken hamate bone in his left hand, had a solid showing.
Senger’s day included a pickoff at first base and double as part of a 1-for-2 performance offensively. Jakson Reetz and Chris Williams are the other catchers in camp competing for the job.
