When Rick Porcello signed a one-year deal to pitch for the New York Mets in December, he says he never thought his spring and some summer training would be done at his home in New Jersey.

“I set up a little weight room with a squat rack and some weights and go my workouts in and got my throwing in with my trainer that I normally train with in the offseason,” he says. “The resources were a little limited, but we made the best of the situation.”

The 2016 American League Cy Young Award winner and Seton Hall Prep graduate says now that baseball is back, he hopes it can give the nation a release from the pandemic.

“We’re in a global crisis. There’s civil unrest in our country and things are difficult. So for us, being at the ballpark and having the privilege and opportunity to get some relief from that is exciting,” Porcello says.

With a shortened 60-game season, Porcello says that it is important to get off on a good start and he is viewing this season as a sprint, rather than a marathon.

“You’re ramping up to get yourself as close to midseason form as possible. So, that first game step into that spring, you’re at full go,” he says.

Porcello says that this means staying mentally locked in so that he can physically handle the workload.

“That’s what it’s all about now. It’s not that it’s early or we still got time. It’s once that first pitch is thrown, it’s off to the races for 60 games to get your foot in the door,” he says.

The Mets season opener is July 24 against Atlanta. The first pitch at Citi Field is at 4:10 p.m.