NEW YORK (AP) - Injured reliever Pedro Feliciano got his say on the Yankees vs. Mets bickering and was adamant that his arm felt fine in the past despite a heavy workload.
What hurt, the Yankees’ situational left-hander offered Monday, was what the Mets said about him.
The back-and-forth feuding between the New York teams boiled up Saturday when Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said Feliciano had been “abused” by the Mets in recent years. Feliciano led the majors in games each of the last three seasons, including a career-high 92 appearances in 2010.
Feliciano signed an $8 million, two-year deal with the Yankees as a free agent in January. A strained left rotator cuff put him on the disabled list for the first time in his career.
Mets pitching coach Dan Warthen responded to Cashman’s comments with: “That was part of the reason we decided to not re-sign him … because we knew we had used him 270-some times in the last three years.”
Feliciano took issue with that, saying the Mets indeed proposed a one-year contract. He said he wanted a multiyear deal and took the Yankees’ offer.
“I read that and it hurts,” Feliciano said before the Yankees hosted Minnesota. “It hurts.”
Feliciano said he didn’t have any problems with how often the Mets summoned him from the bullpen. He said he was occasionally surprised when the Mets left him in games to face right-handed hitters.
“I like to pitch. You want me to pitch in a situation, I’ll be there,” he said. “I want to pitch every day.
“I always feel good. I was healthy,” he added. “I think my arm never hangs.”
Feliciano said he had plenty of pitches left in his arm. And as far as Warthen and the Mets, “I will show him in the Subway Series.”
Feliciano said he planned to play catch later this week and hoped his injury would heal quickly.
“I was fine. It was just something that came up,” he said. “It’s not a big deal.”
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