There had been reports of a secret game of MLB All-Stars, with Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander and others meeting in Palm Beach, Fla. to play and work out before they went to summer camp. Mets hurler Michael Wacha was among the group as well.

He didn't mention playing in a game, but speaking on a Zoom interview Thursday, Wacha recalled those workouts in Florida, saying how grateful he was to be among those guys gearing up for the season.

“It was all very memorable. It’s something I’ll remember for the rest of my life,” he said.

Wacha can thank Robert Gsellman for getting him into the select group at Cressey Sports Performance. At first, it was just fellow teammate Noah Syndergaard rehabbing and Verlander working out once spring training was shut down. When Florida began lifting its restrictions, more players joined them.

Gsellman was one of them, though he would first meet Wacha halfway to throw at the beginning of the shutdown. Wacha stayed in Port St. Lucie while Gsellman was in Jupiter. During those first throwing sessions, it would be hard for the two Mets to even throw on a random field.

“So it was at this ballpark – kinda in the middle of St. Lucie and Jupiter – me and Gsellman would meet up at this park,” Wacha said. “There was a couple times early on in the quarantine that we’d meet up at this ball field and the park ranger would come by and he would kick us off the field. We were like, ‘Where are we supposed to throw?’ He was like, ‘You’re just not allowed to be on the ball field.’ So we were like, ‘Can we throw in this parking lot?’”

Working out with other top big leaguers was much better than throwing in that parking lot, as Wacha said he would learn from those elite pitchers and “see how they go about their business.” Those competitive sessions and overall preparation had Wacha ready to come into camp without skipping a beat.

“Right now, I feel like I’m in a really good spot. Been throwing some three-inning lives the past couple of weeks, and so [I’m] hopping into that and keeping that progression building now. It’s been feeling really good.”

The question all along with Wacha is whether or not he will be a rotation piece. The loss of Syndergaard likely makes that the case with Jacob deGrom, Marcus Stroman, Steven Matz, and Rick Porcello making up the rotation order with Wacha at the end in a traditional five-man set.

But no decision has been made officially on that end. So, as Wacha has been since he signed with the Mets, he’ll be preparing as a starter in summer camp.

“I’ve just been preparing to just come and be a starter and try to eat up as many innings as I can,” he said. “I know I’m feeling good and I can take the ball whenever they ask me to.”

Popular in the Community