Mets' Carlos Carrasco Takes Big Step Towards Return

New York Mets pitcher Carlos Carrasco took one big step closer to making his way back from a torn hamstring.

It's fair to say that Carlos Carrasco's tenure with the Mets hasn't gotten off to the best of starts.

Although he was once looked at as the cherry on top in the Francisco Lindor trade, the right-handed pitcher has yet to make his Mets debut this season due to a torn hamstring suffered during spring training.

Since beginning his initial rehab, Carrasco has gone through a number of setbacks, which ultimately saw the team shut him down altogether. 

But on Saturday, manager Luis Rojas delivered some promising news regarding the recovery of Carrasco.

After strengthening up the hamstring enough to resume playing catch recently, Carrasco threw a bullpen session off the slope, but not quite on the rubber, per Rojas.

According to Rojas, Carrasco feels good, and the plan is, for him to slowly ramp up his throwing progression.

While there is still no timetable for when he will begin a rehab assignment, this development is a huge step in the right direction for the 34-year-old in his path to rejoining the team.

Despite Carrasco's uncertainty, the Mets have remained hopeful that he can still return in July, which was their initial target date last month.

Based off the recent progress he has made, (mid-late) July is starting to look like a reasonable goal.

Without Carrasco, the Mets' pitching staff has posted a league-leading 3.06 ERA. But they recently lost No. 5 starter Joey Lucchesi to season-ending Tommy John surgery, and right-hander Noah Syndergaard is not expected back until September after suffering a setback of his own on his rehab assignment.

The addition of Carrasco could prevent the Mets from having to make a move for a starter at the trade deadline next month, which would potentially make an already impressive unit even stronger.