NEW YORK (AP) - The Mets have activated infielder Jed Lowrie from the injured list for the first time this season.
Lowrie signed a $20 million, two-year deal with New York in January but has yet to appear in a game for the Mets. He was available off the bench against the Phillies on Saturday night.
“It’s been frustrating,” Lowrie said. “I’ve had multiple setbacks, but you just find a way to keep moving forward.”
The 35-year-old Lowrie said he was healthy when he arrived for spring training, but he experienced left knee pain in camp and opened the year on the injured list. He was nearing a return in May when he injured his left hamstring, and then he strained his right calf while rehabbing those left-side injuries.
“I’ve worked my butt off to get to the point where I could at least try to help however I can,” he said.
Lowrie played 12 minor league rehab games and batted .275 (11 for 40) with two home runs, and manager Mickey Callaway said he’d received encouraging reports about Lowrie’s hitting. Callaway said Lowrie was available to pinch hit Saturday and would hopefully progress to more over the final month of the season.
“We’re confident he’s going to come up there and give us a good at-bat,” Callaway said.
Lowrie hit .267 with 23 homers and .801 OPS in 157 games with Oakland last season. He was formerly a client of Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen.
NOTES: 1B/OF Dominic Smith said he has a stress fracture in his left foot, not a stress reaction as initially diagnosed. He hopes he can return for the final week of the regular season.
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