PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Josh Edgin watched the playoff games, of course, frequently alone but sometimes with rehabbing teammate Zack Wheeler. It was bittersweet, as this type of thing tends to be.
"You're excited for every guy, because you know every guy on the team," Edgin said Tuesday at Mets camp. "You're hoping and praying they do well. And at the same time, you're like, 'All right, this is a situation where I'd probably pitch. This kind of stinks.'"
Jerry Blevins watched the games, too. Unlike Edgin, Blevins had been a part of the organization for months, not years, when the Mets made the World Series. And yet he considered the clubhouse so welcoming in his short time there that it proved difficult to watch, as he nursed his broken left arm and harbored dreams of a miracle return.
"I think it's about as frustrated as I ever been in my whole life," Blevins said. "It was tough to be a competitor, to watch your team be on the field and not be a part of it."
Now both lefty relievers are on the mend. Edgin, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery, is targeting a May 1 return. Blevins, who broke and then refractured his arm last summer, is learning to pitch with a piece of metal latched to his bone. Once those two heal, the Mets hope they can provide the type of dynamic lefty relief options the team has lacked in recent seasons.
"We'll be strong," Edgin said. "Jerry's obviously good -- that's why he's here. I'm very confident in the guys that we have coming in this year and around us."
It was in large part because of Edgin's injury that the Mets acquired Blevins last spring, using him with great success before he broke his arm the first time in late April. During his rehab, Blevins was walking to his car when he slipped on the curb and used his left hand to brace himself. It felt funny enough for him to undergo X-rays, which revealed the new crack.
Edgin's recovery has been more linear, though he -- like Wheeler -- is taking his rehab relatively slow. The goal is that by May, Edgin should be able to join Blevins, who will be ready well before Opening Day. Both have already thrown off a mound in Port St. Lucie.
Though the Mets have two other lefty relievers in their projected Opening Day bullpen, Antonio Bastardo profiles less as a specialist and more as a setup man, while Sean Gilmartin actually boasts reverse platoon splits. Blevins and Edgin, by comparison, are true lefty specialists, much more effective against same-sided batters.