(Photo by Rob Tringali/Getty Images)
Last season, veteran left-hander Jose Quintana enjoyed a bounce-back campaign with the Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals, going 6-7 with an ERA of 2.93.
He even started the first game of the Wild Card Series for the Cardinals against the Philadelphia Phillies.
In the offseason, he joined the New York Mets along with Justin Verlander and Kodai Senga, but was injured in spring training.
However, the lefty is making progress in his rehab.
On Sunday, Quintana made his second rehab start with Single-A St. Lucie.
He pitched 3.1 innings and recorded four strikeouts.
The only runs the veteran left-hander allowed were two unearned runs.
In the second game of his rehab assignment with Single-A St. Lucie today, José Quintana tossed 3.1 innings and allowed two unearned runs.
Quintana threw 46 pitches and struck out four batters. pic.twitter.com/22kVra3FoA
— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) June 18, 2023
This is encouraging progress for Quintana.
With the Mets struggling this season, owning a 33-38 record after their loss to the Cardinals on Sunday, getting Quintana back next month will be a huge boost, especially with Verlander and Max Scherzer not having typical seasons.
Quintana joined the Mets on a two-year, $26 million deal back in December just mere days after they had signed Verlander.
The 34-year-old ended up being the ace of the Cardinals staff last season, and should be a welcome addition to the Mets staff when he ultimately returns.
Quintana is more of a groundball pitcher, but four strikeouts over 3.1 innings on just 46 pitches should be an encouraging sign for the Mets, who are hoping to get back to full health soon and gain some traction in the NL East race.
New York won 101 games a season ago and earned a Wild Card spot.
Despite their record, they are only 5.5 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Wild Card race.
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