CHICAGO — Danny Young’s ascent from random minor-leaguer signing to top/only lefthander in the Mets’ bullpen began last summer when he finally had the hip surgery that he thought might end his career.
His left hip had bothered him for almost a decade, especially in recent years. But he long hesitated to get it fixed because he was worried — as a career minor-leaguer pushing 30 — that he wouldn’t get another contract afterward.
But then it started to become a life problem, not just a baseball problem. Pitching through pain was fine. Having trouble putting on his socks and shoes was not. Last July, while with Atlanta, Young decided to have the operation.
In the year-plus since, his career has not only survived but thrived. His hip is “great,” Young said. And his numbers, entering Friday, were pretty good too: 3.00 ERA, 40 strikeouts in 30 innings and four holds in as many tries. Young has become an increasingly relevant and reliable option for manager Carlos Mendoza out of the bullpen.
“Honestly, off the surgery I was coming off of, I was just happy to have a job,” Young said before the Mets’ series opener on Friday night against the White Sox. “And I would try to take it as far as I could.”
Young’s surgery was a hip resurfacing, which he described as “kind of a replacement but not really.”
“I just had an arthritic hip, didn’t have any cartilage left on that side,” he said.
He recovered during the second half of the season and into the offseason. By January, the Mets offered him a minor-league deal with an invite to spring training. On a lefthanded reliever depth chart that opened with Brooks Raley and Jake Diekman, Young was far from a top option.
But a baseball season has a way of testing and reconfiguring a club’s depth. Raley wound up needing Tommy John surgery. Diekman struggled and was released. The Mets have called up Young four times, initially in late April and most recently in early July. With a slider/sinker combo, he has been good enough to survive several roster squeezes.
Lately, Mendoza has turned to Young for the traditional lefty role, tasked with retiring the other team’s best lefthanded hitters. On Tuesday night against the Diamondbacks, that meant entering to face Joc Pederson at a point when one swing could have made the game too close for the Mets’ liking. On Wednesday night, Young had a three-batter sequence that featured lefty hitters Corbin Carroll, Jake McCarthy and Pederson.
“Everyone’s always dreamed of ‘I want to be a starter, I want to be this guy.’ I just wanted to face lefties,” Young said. “So it’s kind of been my goal for my whole career, essentially — once I realized I was never going to start — to do that and be good at that.
“There’s a lot of work and preparation and a lot of learning, which I still need to do. You just go out there and attack and give your best stuff, make sure you get those outs.”
Mendoza said: “He’s stepping up . . . You feel good because of how much movement he’s got on his pitches. So yeah, he’s the only lefty, but it doesn’t matter whether it’s in the middle of the game, toward the end of the game. He’s ready to go and you feel good when he’s facing those lefties.”
Injury updates
Updates on a few injured pitchers, via Mendoza:
Dedniel Nunez (right forearm tightness) feels well enough that he might not get an MRI after all. The Mets will take a wait-and-see approach for a couple of days before deciding whether it even needs a closer look.
Christian Scott (right elbow sprain) has advanced to throwing off a mound. The Mets hope he returns next month, albeit not at a full pitch count.
Kodai Senga (left calf strain) is playing catch out to 90 feet, a big jump from the Mets’ most recent update.
Minors details
Jett Williams, the Mets’ top position-player prospect, returned to Double-A Binghamton on Friday after missing more than four months with a right wrist injury that required surgery.
That actually represents a positive outcome for Williams, who in June said that seeing any regular-season action would be a pleasant surprise. He also might play in the Arizona Fall League to catch up on missed time.
Williams, 20, played in only 11 Double-A games before being sidelined. He recently made five rehab appearances in the lower minors.
By Tim Healey
timothy.healey@newsday.com
@timbhealeyTim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
