PORT ST. LUCIE – Mets starter John Maine cleared a hurdle Tuesday, pitching in a game for the first time since September surgery to shave a bone spur in his right shoulder.
Maine, whose 2008 season ended Aug. 23, started an intrasquad scrimmage and came out of it pain-free. He allowed one hit with two strikeouts and a walk in two scoreless innings, throwing 16 of 25 pitches for strikes.
“My arm feels great. My body feels great,” Maine said. “I just feel like it’s been such a long time. The mechanics are a little off and I was rusty a little bit, but other than that, and more importantly, my arm feels good.”
The outing gave Maine a sense that he is moving in the right direction. He had thrown a half-dozen bullpen sessions before arriving in camp this month and he faced batters for the first time Saturday, throwing 40 pitches in two segments to simulate separate innings.
The 27-year-old right-hander opened Tuesday’s outing with three straight fastballs to strike out Luis Castillo, then got Jose Reyes on a fly ball to center and struck out Carlos Beltran to end the inning.
“I worked hard in the winter, going through the rehab and all the therapy and all that to be able to come out here and have no setbacks, so I am happy with it and I am happy with where I am at right now,” Maine said.
Right-hander Freddy Garcia, vying for the fifth spot in the rotation, also pitched two scoreless innings, a positive step in his return from shoulder trouble.
Maine, who went 10-8 with a 4.18 ERA last year, was far more pleased with his performance Tuesday than with his practice Saturday, when several pitches landed in the dirt.
His only notable blip in the scrimmage was a changeup that went over Reyes’ head.
“It’s been a while since I’ve thrown that thing, and it’s tough to get it game speed,” Maine said. “It was the first one, and it was just a slippery ball. … I think in my bullpens now I’ve got to start giving it a little more effort, get the feel for it then and hopefully get a couple games in and be ready to go.”
Maine also had a chance to throw a curveball in a game situation for the first time in more than two years. During the 2006 season, then-pitching coach Rick Peterson told him to stop throwing curveballs, so he developed into a big league starter by relying on mid-90s heat.
Current pitching coach Dan Warthen is working to bring the pitch back into Maine’s repertoire.
Maine threw just one curveball Tuesday, for a strike, but plans to incorporate the pitch into his sequences more often as situations allow.
“It’s a situational pace,” Maine said. “It’s not something I feel like I can throw 3-2 right now, but I just want to try to work it in during certain situations.”
Mets manager Jerry Manuel was glad to see Maine’s progress. The right-hander is scheduled to make his Grapefruit League debut Sunday.
“John Maine was throwing strikes,” Manuel said. “He hadn’t been out there in a while, and he let the ball go. He pitched, so it’s definitely for him, and for us obviously, a big step in the right direction.”