PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — The last time Mets manager Terry Collins saw all five of his starting pitchers in the same room?
“Altchek’s office, I think,” Collins joked.
By that, he means the office of Dr. David Altchek, the Mets’ team doctor. That was, of course, before Sunday morning, when pitchers and catchers reported to spring training. As he walked in the clubhouse, he found a row of five lockers and all five guys who occupy them: Matt Harvey, Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom, Steven Matz and Zack Wheeler.
By now, you probably know that four of those lockers were empty for much of last season. Harvey, deGrom and Matz had arm surgeries last season, and Wheeler hasn’t pitched since 2014.
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Collins has long thought that the high volume of pitches thrown early in the spring leads to injuries and fatigue later in the season. So, Collins and pitching coach Dan Warthen decided to overhaul the spring training throwing plan by severely limiting throwing in the early days of camp.
“I’m not a doctor, but I think when you talk about the injuries that occur to pitchers, a lot of it has to do with the fact that perhaps we throw too much too early,” Collins said Monday at his first spring training press conference. “We’re not going to do that this year. You’ll see tomorrow, there will be no throwing during the drills.”
By restricting throws in between drills and having pitchers play catch at the end of the day instead of at the start, Collins and Warthen estimate that each pitcher will make about 100 less throws a day.
“I watched earlier today, I watched these guys and it’s human nature,” Collins said. “Great arms, guys are playing catch and throwing hard — almost as hard as they can. They’re not going to throw tomorrow.”
As the team gets deeper into camp, pitchers will up their level of intensity. They won’t face live batters without throwing full bullpens. But Collins and Warthen are telling their pitchers not to throw so much right now in hopes that they’ll all be able to throw later.
And by later, they mean the summer and deep into the fall.
“I saw those guys out there today and I want to make sure that tomorrow, they’re going to be a little stiff,” Collins said. “They’ve all been throwing all winter long, but it’s a different animal when (the media) is standing around there and the coaches are standing around. It’s not just you and a buddy playing catch. Now it’s time for business.”
Abbey Mastracco may be reached at amastracco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @abbeymastracco. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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