Tom Glavine wouldn’t nail down a specific baseball timetable for himself.
He still has to consult with the Mets’ doctor. But Glavine spoke yesterday about throwing bullpen sessions and said he is shooting to be in action for the Mets next week.
Yesterday’s Post had an exclusive report that Glavine, the All-Star lefty, would not need surgery because of what was a cold left ring finger. The pitcher had an angiogram Monday.
According to a Mets statement yesterday, the results are that Glavine’s sensation was due to “an old injury to an artery probably caused by pitching. The scar tissue from that old injury occasionally causes blood clots to form in Tom’s finger.”
“I’m relieved,” Glavine said at a press conference at Shea. “There’s still a little bit of anxiety, I guess, for going through what I’ve gone through for the last few days and the uncertainty of it.
“But it’s certainly a great feeling knowing that I can go out there and continue to pitch and get back on the field as soon as I can. So from that standpoint, it’s great, and hopefully from here on out there’ll be no more problems.” Glavine said his situation is “obviously not life-threatening or I wouldn’t go out there and pitch. It’s not threatening to the point where something really major is going to end up happening to my arm or my hand or anything like that.” He did say he’ll have to alert people if he feels the sensation again.
Glavine figured he likely would have to toss multiple bullpen sessions before he’s back on the mound in a game.
The Mets’ statement said Glavine’s treatment is going to include baby aspirin, which the pitcher said “thins the blood a little bit.”
Glavine talked about his Monday at the Hospital for Special Surgery, which included “just a lot of getting poked with needles and stuff like that” even before the angiogram. Following the latter, Glavine said he was required for six hours not to move “to make sure that that thing closes back up.”