DeGrom Pitched Well Like Clockwork, But His Injury Looms Large

New York Mets’ ace Jacob deGrom, nearly a week ago, was scratched from his start against the St. Louis Cardinals with right lat tightness.

For deGrom, his right side hurting after a start was nothing new. Gary Cohen mentioned on the SNY broadcast that deGrom regularly feels sore on his right side the day after he starts.

The issue arose when the second day rolled around and the right-hander was still not feeling 100 percent.

New York opted to keep him off the injured list, and after he felt good to go later in the week, scheduled him to start Sunday.

In a Mother’s Day matinee, deGrom took the mound at Citi Field and did what he does best: remain stingy.

Over five innings, the DeLand, Florida native punched out six batters and allowed just one run on one hit, (he did walk three but limited the damage), and now has a 0.68 ERA.

Going back out for the sixth inning, deGrom tossed two warm up pitches before signaling for catcher James McCann to come to the mound. New York’s trainer Brian Chicklo and manager Luis Rojas then joined them, and deGrom was removed from the game.

The Mets’ bullpen remained solid and pitched the last four innings and allowed just one run en route to the series sweep, but concerns remained about deGrom.

In his postgame Zoom press conference, Rojas said deGrom felt tightness in his lower back and would be undergoing an MRI.

“He’s going for an MRI, just to see what’s going on there, to see how he is, have a clear view,” Rojas said. “Right-side tightness is what we have from our medical staff here, more so in his lower back area, on the right side. They’re taking a look, so once we get the results back, we’ll know how he is.”

Rojas added that deGrom was disappointed and didn’t want to come out of the game, but understood it was the right choice, even if for preventative measures.

New York’s team ERA is sitting at a cool 3.00, which ranks second in the National League, so if deGrom does have to go on the IL, the rest of their pitching corps will be tasked with picking up the slack. While 3.00 is tremendous and the team’s pitching has been huge, losing arguably the best pitcher of the game for any amount of time is a huge blow.

With that being said, there’s no reason to risk the ace hurting himself even further, so an IL assignment, regardless of the MRI outcome might be the proper call.

New York has off Monday and Thursday this week, so their heavily used bullpen will get a chance to recharge, which is good, especially if the team opts for another bullpen game in place of a deGrom start if he is forced to miss time.

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