Mets leave Adam Ottavino off NLCS roster as Jeff McNeil returns from injury

LOS ANGELES — Not much changed in the routine of Adam Ottavino, who worked out and threw in the outfield before heading to team meetings Sunday.

He is keeping his arm ready in case he is needed at some point, but such a scenario has become unlikely after he was removed from the Mets roster for the NLCS. The 38-year-old, longtime veteran and clubhouse leader became the odd man out when Jeff McNeil was added, with the Mets dropping down to 12 pitchers.

“I’m just going to contribute how I can and support the team,” Ottavino said before the Mets began the series at Dodger Stadium. “It is what it is.”

Ottavino has warmed up but has not pitched in October, having tumbled down the bullpen hierarchy amid an inconsistent season. Danny Young also did not pitch in the wild-card round or the NLDS, but he represents the lone traditional lefty in the pen (with David Peterson used for longer outings).

Mets’ Sean Manaea looking to rewrite personal history of Dodgers struggles

In Ottavino’s final four outings of the regular season, he threw 4 ¹/₃ scoreless and hitless innings while walking two and striking out five, including throwing a scoreless frame in the clincher in Atlanta and another clean frame in the nightcap.

The Saturday night conversation was “not an easy one,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. Ottavino declined to talk about it.

Mets won’t be hesitant to start Jeff McNeil in right spot during NLCS

“He’s such a professional,” Mendoza said. “He understood, and he brings a lot to this team not only on the field but off the field. … He’s one of the veterans here.”

There is a strong chance Ottavino has thrown his final pitch with the Mets after three mostly solid seasons in which he has pitched to a 3.14 ERA in 192 games.

In Ottavino’s mind, there is no chance he has thrown his final major league pitch.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR STARTING LINEUP NEWSLETTER

Ottavino, who wants to be a manager someday, plans to pitch in the Dominican Winter League this offseason and return for what would be his 20th professional season and 15th in the majors.

“I’m playing next year,” said Ottavino, whose finished the regular season with a 4.34 ERA and 70 strikeouts in 56 innings.

The advanced, expected statistics liked Ottavino more than the traditional ones. His expected ERA was 3.13. Opposing hitters batted .230 against him with a .200 expected average. He walked 3.70 batters per nine innings, an improvement from the 4.23 pace he pitched to last season, when his back-of-the-baseball-card numbers were better.

“I think it’s impossible to evaluate my season,” Ottavino said. “I did a lot of things elite level, and yet I gave up too many runs. So very hard to evaluate it. Been having a hard time figuring that out, how to feel about it.

“But I felt like I threw the ball really well the majority of the time. Had a couple innings that got away from me and kind of killed me. That’s baseball.”

For the latest in sports, top headlines, breaking news and more, visit nypost.com/sports/