MLB

Success a relief for Mets’ Isringhausen

Jason Isringhausen isn’t much for reminiscing about the old days, but he does recall his first game in the majors — a start for the Mets against the Cubs at Wrigley Field on July 17, 1995.

“I remember the first batter was Brian McRae and I struck him out,” said Isringhausen, who gave up two runs in seven innings, but didn’t get a decision in that 7-2 Mets win. “It was nerve-wracking and fun. I just tried to come out and throw strikes. Same thing I do now.”

The 38-year-old right-hander returns to Chicago tonight, a long way from the rookie he was 16 years ago.

“When he was younger, his stuff was ahead of his maturity,” said J.P. Ricciardi, who was working in the Athletics’ front office in 1999 and recommended to Oakland general manager Billy Beane that he include Isringhausen in a trade for Billy Taylor. “Now, his maturity is ahead of his stuff.”

And while Isringhausen is no longer the All-Star closer he was with the A’s and later the Cardinals, he is having his best year since 2007.

Instead of throwing in the mid-to-upper 90s, Isringhausen typically tops out at about 92, but he is still good enough that he’s given up just three runs in 17 innings this season.

“If I had told you on March 1 that he would be our eight-inning setup guy, you would have looked at me like I had six heads,” said Ricciardi, now an assistant to Mets GM Sandy Alderson. “But in this business, you never say no. He wanted to throw for us in spring training and you can’t have success if you don’t take a chance.”

Ricciardi also knows that from trading for Jose Bautista while the GM of Toronto. Bautista now is perhaps the best power hitter in baseball — and Isringhausen is having one of the best seasons of any reliever in the majors.

“He’s been around and is looking for one more shot,” Francisco Rodriguez said of Isringhausen. “When you’ve been around so long, you have a different perspective on things and that’s good to have.”

Rodriguez can’t imagine going through all the arm surgeries Isringhausen has had and coming back in a setup role.

“When my arm doesn’t let me do what I want it to, I’m basically gonna go home,” Rodriguez said. “He’s such a competitor.”

Josh Thole grew up chanting Isringhausen’s name from the stands at Busch Stadium in St. Louis and admitted he wasn’t sure what to expect when he arrived in camp, but added: “We knew it wasn’t just a homecoming.

“He just wants to get the ball to Frankie in the ninth,” Thole said. “He treats it like he’s closing. And when I was getting crushed for my catching and then took my mental-health break, I spent two games in the bullpen. No one was more positive towards me than he was and you could see how he was a leader out there. He still gets it done.”

*

David Wright, sidelined with a stress fracture in his back, flew to Los Angeles yesterday to have more tests done.