NEW YORK -- Thirteen months to the day after throwing his last pitch for the Mets, A.J. Minter finally returned to the mound on Tuesday, firing a scoreless ninth inning in a 7-2 loss to the Reds at Citi Field.
It may have been the thinnest of silver linings for the Mets in the midst of a five-game losing streak. But it was something.
“I feel like I debuted all over again,” Minter said. “Definitely some butterflies. I don’t think I pitched my best tonight, but I got through it. That first one’s always the hardest. Just a lot of emotions. It makes you not take this game for granted. You never know when it could be your last one.”
On April 26, 2025, Minter tore his left lat muscle off the bone, necessitating season-ending surgery. Following a long summer of rehab, Minter arrived back at Spring Training to learn that Mets officials intended to take things slowly with him, keeping him shelved for another month to start this season. But as he neared a return earlier this month, Minter suffered a minor setback with his surgically repaired left hip, stalling him for another two weeks.
He finally made it back on Tuesday, allowing a leadoff single to Eugenio Suárez before buckling down to strike out his next two batters and then induce an inning-ending popup. After struggling at times with his velocity on rehab, Minter averaged a respectable 92.9 mph and topped out at 94.5.
“It was good to see him after a long recovery, long year for him,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “Couldn’t wait to get back on a big league mound, big league competition, and for him to get that inning out of the way, he looked good. He was sharp.”
When Minter returned to the dugout following his outing, a large contingent of teammates was waiting there to offer him an ovation -- something Minter said he wasn’t expecting.
“It’s just been a long time since I’ve been out there,” Minter said. “For them to give me that welcome back, it was definitely pretty cool to see.”
Finally healthy, Minter will pair with Brooks Raley as a potentially formidable left-handed duo in Mendoza’s bullpen. While Raley is putting together an All-Star-caliber season for the Mets, Minter was one of the league’s top lefties from 2020-24 with the Braves, producing a 2.85 ERA over 267 appearances. Both can be free agents after the season.
“I feel like I still need to improve on a few things and I can still get better, but I’ll take that first one,” Minter said. “Now I feel like a lot of weight’s off my shoulders, and now I can really get back to what I really feel like I can do.”