CHICAGO — Jacob deGrom extended four innings Thursday night, perhaps the last action he will see in a minor league uniform before returning to the Mets.
The ace right-hander allowed an unearned four-inning, 42-pitch run for Triple-A Syracuse against Jacksonville. DeGrom hit 100 mph on the radar gun three times, finishing with two legal hits and a four strikeout walk.
“I felt a bit off balance for the first few innings, but then I made an adjustment,” deGrom told reporters in Syracuse. “I didn’t find my fastball the way I wanted early on, but I felt a lot better in the last few innings.”
DeGrom’s previous two starts in rehab in his comeback from a stress reaction in his right shoulder blade came for Single-A St. Lucie. He last played in a regular season game for the Mets on July 7, 2021.
Mets officials tentatively plan to field deGrom in a simulated game next week (the minor league affiliates are dark during the All-Star break) and could add him to the rotation after that. If deGrom stays on schedule, he would likely face the Padres on July 24 or two days later in the Subway Series. Mets officials haven’t ruled out the idea of an additional minor league rehab start for deGrom if they think it’s warranted.
Jacob deGrom allowed an unearned run in four innings in his Triple-A rehab start. Danny Tripodi
DeGrom said “trusting the process” was an important part of his rehab.
“It was pretty thorough hitting different throwing thresholds before I even stepped onto the mound,” deGrom said. “Everything was on a radar gun as far as you’re going to throw that hard every day and no harder than that. So it was very thorough and step by step. I had to trust the process and try not to overdo it because if I did it again I was out for the rest of that year.”
DeGrom’s night included the Mets’ top pick, catcher Francisco Alvarez, receiving his pitches.
“He did a good job,” deGrom said. “He approached me before the game, asked me what I wanted to do and was a nice target.”
Taijuan Walker spent Wednesday night at Marcus Stroman’s home. Topics included their planned pitching matchup on Friday. The right-handers were teammates with the Mets last season.
“It would be more fun if we hit so we could hit each other,” Walker said. “But it’s going to be a fun little matchup: see who can go out there and go further and have a better stat line.”
Stroman was handed a three-year, $71 million contract by the Cubs after the Mets failed to make a serious offer to keep him. Stroman posted a 3.02 ERA in 33 starts last season and became a personal ace after deGrom was sidelined.
Will Stroman have a chip on his shoulder versus the Mets?
“I feel like he always plays with a chip on his shoulder, which is what makes him good, what makes him who he is,” Walker said. “It drives him and he’s so competitive and it doesn’t matter if it’s us or anyone else.”
Stroman has a 4.91 ERA in 10 starts for the Cubs this season. He spent more than a month on the injured list with a shoulder injury and returned last weekend against the Dodgers to go four innings scoreless.
Trevor May is scheduled to fight racquets in Port St Lucie on Sunday in his rehab over a stress reaction in his right tricep.
Ender Inciarte was assigned the job of making room for Jeff McNeil’s return from the injured list.