Mets, Yankees spring training notebook: Bullpen the strength

Metro has your notables and quotables from Mets and Yankees camp.

Mets

Jerry Blevins and Antonio Bastardo, the Mets’ top two lefty relievers in camp, are brimming with confidence over the Mets’ bullpen.

“We dominate the game from the beginning and we’re going to dominate the game at the end, too,” Bastardo told the New York Post. Blevins echoed his teammate’s sentiments, saying, “Depth is what I think strikes me the most. We have…[Jeurys] Familia at the back end…[Addison] Reed to lock down the eighth. And then Bastardo has just been a great pitcher his whole career.”

“It’s pretty nice to think we’ve got a couple of different options from the left side and we could have a third,” Mets skipper Terry Collins told the Post, “depending on how this camp goes.”

That opens the door for Sean Gilmartin, the versatile lefty reliever picked up in the Rule 5 draft last offseason, to make the roster as well as Josh Edgin, the Mets’ lefty specialist from 2014 who missed all of last season due to Tommy John surgery.

Curtis Granderson has been dealing with pink eye this week, and after initially being sent away from camp to avoid the disease from spreading, Granderson was seen on Wednesday taking batting practice on his own.

“Just as a precaution…you’ve got to take your three days,” Collins said.“But he feels good. He’ll be ready for Friday.”

Erik Goeddel, who has yet to pitch during Spring Training due to a sore lat muscle, has been cleared by doctors and should begin throwing in a few days, per the Daily News.

Yankees

Jacob Lindgren, the Yankees’ overall seventh-ranked prospect, had a rocky beginning to his MLB career in late 2015. He spent just seven games at the major league level, gave up three home runs in seven innings, then was diagnosed with a bone spur in his throwing elbow that ended his year early. But with the departure of Adam Warren and Justin Wilson, Lindgren sees a chance at redemption by being able to make the Opening Day roster.

“I feel like I’m coming back stronger and ready to compete,” Lindgren told The Journal News.“I feel like I know my identity…I know what I have to do to get outs.”

Lindgren has been throwing live batting practice during Spring Training and reports that his pitches, “were working just as they did before the elbow surgery.”

The Yankees got into the win column for the first time this year by beating the Tigers, 10-9, at Steinbrenner Field on Wednesday. The Bombers were down 9-8 entering the final frame but Jorge Mateo started a rally by legging out a leadoff triple. He scored shortly after then Tyler Wade came home from first with two outs thanks to a misplayed ball in the outfield off the bat of Dustin Fowler.

Luis Severino got through an easy first inning but once he was forced to pitch from the stretch in the second he struggled, giving up a grand slam to Bryan Holaday. Both Severino and Joe Girardi chalked up the bad outing to a lack of command, as he left pitches up in the zone.