Met’s Ass Jacob de Grom is scheduled to undergo an MRI follow-up on his ailing right shoulder next Monday, the team told reporters Tuesday (Twitter link via MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo). If this shooting round goes well, it’s possible he’ll be released to the pitch shortly thereafter.
The Mets have yet to get an inning from deGrom in 2022 because he was deferred after being diagnosed with a stress reaction in his right shoulder blade on April 1. The original recommendation was a four-week shutdown. Two-time Cy Young winner deGrom posted a superhuman 1.08 ERA with a 45.1% strikeout rate and 3.4% walk rate in 92 frames last year before shutting down in early July with a forearm issue which eventually turned out to be the end of the season.
There’s still no timeline for deGrom’s return, and there won’t be until the MRI is completed next week, though the Mets have yet to put him on the 60-day injured list. That leaves open the possibility that he could return before early June, which such a move would require.
Even without deGrom and right-handed Taijuan WalkerCurrently out with a bursitis in his right shoulder, the Mets’ 2021 rotation hasn’t left out much so far. Right Tylor Megil got off to a great start, hurling 11 shutout innings while swinging an improved heater that had a near two mph top speed. Former Cleveland star Carlo Carrasco, who struggled mightily in his freshman year with the Mets last season, looked like his old self on his first two trips to the mound. commercial acquisition Chris Bassitthas now only allowed one pass through a dozen frames. Max Scherzer had a couple of sharp outings to start his Mets career and was left-handed David Petersen must still allow a throughput of 8 1/3 frames.
DeGrom, 33, is getting $33.5 million in the penultimate guaranteed season of a five-year, $137.5 million deal. He can get out of that deal at the end of the season – a right he says he still wants to exercise even after missing the early part of the season on the injury list. The right-hander’s current contract would see him earn $30.5 million in 2023 and gives the Mets a $32.5 million option for the 2024 season.