Scherzer ready for return after 2nd rehab start

Max Scherzer is "good to go."

Scherzer, who has been out with a strained left oblique since mid-May, made his second rehab start with Double-A Binghamton on Wednesday, tossing 4 2/3 innings and 80 pitches against Hartford.

After the game, Scherzer told reporters that he doesn’t expect to make any more rehab starts.

“I felt good out there. I was able to work through some traffic,” Scherzer said. “I’m good to go.”

The Mets' 37-year-old righty struck out eight and allowed three runs, two earned, on four hits and a walk. Scherzer cruised through the first three innings before hitting a snag in the fourth, when the leadoff hitter reaching on an error and his lone walk snowballed into a two-run double and an RBI single. He proceeded to get out of the inning with two strikeouts and a flyout.

Scherzer ends his brief two-game stint with the Rumble Ponies with eight total innings pitched and 14 strikeouts under his belt. While he hasn’t quite ramped up his pitch count, Scherzer is all for taking it slow in his recovery.

“I still feel like I had, on the arm specifically, another hitter or two. My arm feels great,” Scherzer said. “That’s just where you have to be careful with this, as you’re working your way back from this injury specifically, of not going too far beyond where you were previously.”

Scherzer was also able to work with Mets top prospect Francisco Álvarez during his time with Binghamton. Álvarez caught Scherzer’s Wednesday start after the starter worked with his usual catcher with the Mets, James McCann, in his first outing.

“He’s seen these hitters more than I have, so he had different thoughts on certain situations,” Scherzer said. “He made some adjustments along the way. He worked with me pretty well, so I’m excited to see what he can do.”

Scherzer said that he will continue to monitor his oblique as he gets ready for his first start back with the Mets in five days' time.

“I really feel confident about going through this turn now of how I will prepare for my next start,” he said. “It won’t be as much rehab in the process so I really don’t think that’s going to overload the oblique on this turn.”