When to Expect Glavine Back

A week ago today, Tom Glavine sat in the cramped, leaky interview room at Shea Stadium and talked calmly about the possibility that his career could be over.So you’ll understand why Glavine was excited yesterday to climb the bullpen mound and throw for 20 minutes before the Mets played the Phillies. It was Glavine’s first real test of the coldness his left ring finger that led to fears of a blood clot in his pitching shoulder.

“There haven’t been too many times where I’ve looked forward to a simple game of catch like I did the last two days,” Glavine said. “Certainly I don’t look forward to throwing in the bullpen as much as I did today.”Glavine gave the finger the thumb’s up after the bullpen session and pronounced himself on schedule to return to the Mets’ rotation Friday in Houston.

The coldness isn’t gone, but Glavine said it “feels better than it did a week ago, so that’s a good sign. It seems like it actually feels better since I starting throwing.”Glavine will next perform his normal between starts routine, including another bullpen session Tuesday or Wednesday in Denver.

“I’m on target to pitch Friday barring something unforeseen,” he said. “I feel good and assuming I continue to feel good, that will be the case.”