Francisco Rodriguez is determined to be a Met again.
After having discussions with the team this past offseason about coming back to Citi Field before signing with the Brewers, the volatile reliever said his goal is to pitch again for his old team.
“I do really want to the opportunity to come back here,” Rodriguez said. “Not to prove to anybody, to the public or the fans, but to prove to myself more than anything else.”
Asked what he felt he needed to prove, Rodriguez said, “What I’m really capable [of doing].”
Rodriguez remains disgruntled about the way his tenure with the Mets went.
“Being here didn’t work out,” Rodriguez said. “In ’09 I started pretty good, a tremendous first half.
After that, injuries took the whole team. In 2010, I was pitching my way back and had the incident and then in 2011 I got traded. There was not one year I can say I left pretty good.”
The “incident“ was his arrest at Citi Field when he was charged with assaulting his girlfriend’s father.
“I didn’t have any issues other than the one I had personally,” Rodriguez said. “[The Mets] treated me really good and gave me the support I needed to get.”
He is off to another good start for the Brewers, entering Wednesday’s game with 19 saves and a career-low WHIP of .890.
At one point during the offseason, Rodriguez thought he was headed back to Queens.
“We had serious discussions, this year and the year before, too,” Rodriguez said. “Milwaukee offered me more money. We decided to take it.”
Instead, the Mets signed Kyle Farnsworth and Jose Valverde to minor league deals when Bobby Parnell was lost for the season following Tommy John surgery. Both veterans ended up being released.
“You never know what’s going to happen next year or the year after that,” Rodriguez said. “I always keep my mind open.”
Noah Syndergaard was placed on the seven-day disabled list by Triple-A Las Vegas in a move the Mets called procedural to clear up a roster spot. He will be eligible to return on June 16. The Mets insisted he did not have a setback after injuring his left shoulder covering home plate on a wild pitch in a game on June 9. Earlier, he had been out with a mild flexor-pronator strain.
Dillon Gee is playing catch from 120 feet and the Mets hope he will be able to throw off a mound this weekend. … Jon Niese, who is slated to start Thursday, was battling the flu when manager Terry Collins removed him after 94 pitches in a tie game in his previous outing. … Daisuke Matsuzaka is expected to make his next start after taking a liner off his right leg Tuesday.
Taylor Teagarden started a second straight game behind the plate Wednesday, with Collins saying he made the choice because Teagarden caught Jacob deGrom with Las Vegas earlier in the year. Teagarden was 0-for-3. … Collins said he hopes Scott Rice’s demotion to Las Vegas allows the lefty to find his sinker again. He had been ineffective without it.