The injury issues continue to linger with the Mets and their ace, Jacob deGrom.
This time, though, he’s going to be on the shelf.
Manager Luis Rojas announced on Sunday morning that the NL Cy Young favorite is headed to the 10-day injured list because of forearm tightness that has been prevalent since his final start of the regular season on July 7 against the Milwaukee Brewers.
The 33-year-old righty admitted that he “didn’t feel right” throwing during the All-Star break as he opted not to travel to Denver to take part in the Mid-Summer Classic. He initially thought the discomfort would go away, but after it did not subside, he alerted the Mets, who scheduled an MRI and scratched him from his Sunday start. Tests came back clear of any structural damage.
“I’m frustrated. I don’t know what else to say,” deGrom said on Sunday. “I guess it’s good news when things structurally look good but then you go out and try to throw a baseball and your form doesn’t feel good. Frustration is very high.”
DeGrom admitted that he’s “having a hard time staying through it and throwing the ball how I’m supposed to,” adding that “I felt [discomfort] literally from lobbing a baseball and it never really seemed to get better and it stayed tight.”
“There’s a lot of times you take the mound and don’t feel that good,” deGrom admitted. “This one, every time I went to release a baseball, there was pain there. It’s down in the forearm so it’s not really as concerning as if it was in the elbow.”
Rojas was not ready to put a timetable on when deGrom could return to the hill for the Mets as they focus on treatment stressing range-of-motion and “feel.”
“We just don’t feel like he’s going to be able to play catch [Monday],” Rojas said. “Just where the tightness is. That’s how far forward we are with it. After that, if he’s able to throw and he’s tightness free and the tolerance is good… everyone will know what the ramp-up will be.”
This is the fifth different injury that deGrom is dealing with this season. He encountered back stiffness, right lat and side tightness, right flexor tendonitis, and right shoulder soreness — all of which he blamed on swinging the bat rather than throwing a baseball. However, deGrom believes that this forearm tightness is not a product of swinging the bat.
His historic season now is experiencing another delay as he leads the majors with a 1.08 ERA, 146 strikeouts in 92 innings of work, a 0.554 WHIP, and 14.3 strikeouts-per-nine-innings mark.
The Mets are now left with three healthy starting pitchers in Taijuan Walker, Marcus Stroman, and Tylor Megill as the need for the acquisition of a pitcher before the trade deadline becomes all the more important.
