The Mets are set at closer. They’re not quite set with the rest of their late-inning relievers. But Billy Wagner doesn’t think he’ll be setting up Francisco Rodriguez if and when Wagner makes his long-awaited comeback from Tommy John surgery later this season.
Wagner doesn’t believe he’s headed for a major role at all with the Mets. In a conversation with The Post yesterday, the rehabbing, fireballing, straight-shooting Wagner predicted he’ll be used sporadically, admitted he won’t be able to help if he can’t bounce back well and insisted he won’t be a bullpen cure-all when he returns.
SOURCE: ALL-STAR GAME AT CITI FIELD IN 2013
REPORT: PEDRO DEAL DONE WITH PHILS
WRIGHT: I WANT TO STAY WITH METS FOR CAREER
“Oh yeah. I’ve worked too hard not to want to get back,” Wagner said when asked if he wanted to be back with the Mets. “I’m not going up there to save the bullpen because you’ve got to have more than one guy. Frankie’s in a world of hurt right now.”
Rodriguez and the Mets are missing J.J. Putz as their eighth-inning man — he’s on the disabled list and isn’t even throwing — and their once-excellent bullpen is no longer a sure thing. Wagner is recovering well from his operation and the former closer could presumably help. His surgery was last Sept. 10, and Omar Minaya revealed last week that Wagner has been throwing to hitters, which the pitcher estimated he has done “eight or nine times.”
Wagner, an All-Star last season, is on a 10-day break, but he’ll head back to Port St. Lucie on Sunday. Minaya said last week that Wagner is expected back with the Mets late next month or early in September.
But Wagner was skeptical about how much the Mets want him back and doesn’t expect he’ll be called on to handle a sizeable bullpen role.
“No. Not at all. I can’t see it. I think that would be foolhardy to even insinuate something like that,” he said. “I think what I would be is a Brian Stokes-type player. I might pitch once a week. I can’t see ’em doing that.”
Wagner reasoned that he hasn’t pitched in a long time and that the Mets have good enough relievers without him. He doesn’t think it’d be fair to those pitchers or to him to have him assume the job.
VACCARO: Second-Half Breakdown
“I think they should stick with those guys,” he said.
Asked if he’d want a late-inning role, Wagner said, “I’ve played too long to worry about that. I’ll pitch in whatever role Fred [Wilpon] and them want me to pitch in.”
Can Wagner help, though?
“It’s not my decision. If I’m healthy, I’m sure I can go out there and pitch and be fine,” he said.
But he said if he can’t bounce back from each appearance — something he was unsure of, since returning to the majors is different than rehabbing in the minors — he doesn’t think he can help.
Wagner, who has been working six days a week, hasn’t had any setbacks, aside from sporadic tendinitis. Still, he didn’t want to put a timetable on his return. He said he’s “in no hurry.”
“I’m not killing myself to get back for them,” he said. “I want to get back because [of] Fred Wilpon and that’s it.”
Wagner, who’s about to turn 38 and has a 2010 team option, has seen the Mets struggle and get clobbered with injuries this season. He doesn’t sound like he envies the players who are suffering through the season.
“I’d hate to be there. I really would,” he said. “That’s a tough situation in which you’re playing with a lot of guys not there.”