JUPITER, Fla. — The revelation that Jacob deGrom will miss opening day and possibly much more — maybe two months of the season — was an ill-timed gut punch for Mets fans.
Doctors reacted differently.
“I think that’s a huge relief,” said Dr. Michael Alaia, sports health expert and associate professor in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at NYU Langone Health.
An MRI scan on Friday revealed the Mets superstar has a stress reaction in his right shoulder blade. According to Alaia, the “extremely rare” injury in lay people – although not unheard of in pitchers – is caused by repetitive strain on the muscles that pull on the scapula bone.
The Mets have said their co-ace won’t pitch for up to four weeks before they get more picture on his throwing shoulder. Given that deGrom has to heal the bone first before he builds himself back up, it’s possible he won’t debut until June this season.
Jacob deGrom plays during a Mets spring training game. Corey SIPKIN
But the chances of this injury developing into something bigger are slim.
“Fortunately, most of these don’t require surgery,” Alaia said over the phone. “Fortunately, these usually heal very well with a relative rest period.
“If this were something more – like a rotator cuff injury or a labrum injury or something related to soft tissue that may or may not heal – it could potentially mean a slightly more negative prognosis or leave the future a little bit more indecisive. Bones heal very well in the human body.”
DeGrom has struggled with injury after injury this past season, from a right lat problem to a right side strain to shoulder and forearm problems. A slight tear in his UCL didn’t allow him to pitch after July 7th of last season.
According to Alaia, it’s possible the stress response is related to his injury history.
“If he changes the mechanism of his throw by trying to protect his elbow, then maybe he’s using different muscles in his shoulder,” Alaia said, “causing different types of stress in the shoulder and pulling on the scapula.”
The top treatment the Mets employ is rest. Given enough time of inactivity, the stress response heals, typically forever.
“The likelihood of that happening again will likely be very small,” Alaia said.
Jacob de Grom Corey Sipkin
Several pitchers — including former Yankee Brandon McCarthy and former Met Michael Wacha — have dealt with the injury in the past and are fully recovered. McCarthy sat out about 6½ weeks with the injury in 2011, while Wacha missed about 11 weeks in 2014.
“Since this injury was supposed to be named after me, I can say it’s really not a big deal,” McCarthy tweeted after deGrom’s diagnosis became public. “Not as big as it seems. He will be fine.”
Any time without deGrom will be painful for the Mets, who have World Series hopes largely because of the pairing of deGrom and Max Scherzer at the top of the rotation.
If they can stay in contention without perhaps the best pitcher in the world, there’s faith in that stress response won’t nag deGrom when he returns.
“I think the good news here is that there’s nothing structurally wrong,” said GM Billy Eppler.