Max Scherzer will host a bullpen session Tuesday, Mets manager Buck Showalter said Newsday’s Tim Healey and other reporters. Right hamstring strain was keeping Scherzer out of a scheduled seven-inning intrasquad game Saturday, which would be Scherzer’s last spring workout before the start of the regular season.
The ace has already pitched 11 innings in the Grapefruit League, so his arm could be built up enough should he come through Tuesday’s bullpen without ill effects. It’s also possible that the Mets will decide to exercise extra caution and either delay Scherzer’s first start by at least a few days or maybe even scrap him with a retrospective IL visit just to be completely sure of the 37 year old it’s completely ready.
Scherzer’s health has taken on greater importance for the Mets following Friday’s news Jacob de Grom will likely miss at least the first two months of the season after an MRI revealed a stress reaction in his right shoulder blade. The Mets start the game April 7 with seven straight games (a four-game streak against the Nationals and then a three-game streak against the Phillies), leaving no days off for the pitching team to breathe to give breathe.
DeGrom and Scherzer were included for the first two games on the schedule Chris Bassitt, Carlo Carrascoand Taijuan Walker then should follow in the rotation. Instead of disrupting this planned routine when Scherzer David Petersenor Trevor Williams could start the first two games, or New York could even opt for a bullpen game. Of course, the Mets are also known to be on the lookout for more jump starters, so a new face could suddenly appear to fill out the rotating picture.
DeGrom met with reporters today (including the New York Post’s Mike Puma) to discuss his injury, and unsurprisingly his “level of frustration is really high right now” at another long stint on the injured list. A forearm injury ended deGrom’s 2021 season on July 7, ending an incredible year in which deGrom posted a 1.08 ERA over 92 innings.
If there’s a silver lining, deGrom is confident his stress response won’t be an ongoing problem: “Structurally everything’s looking good once the bone heals, so we can go ahead and build from there and hopefully be healthy for the rest of the.” As such, deGrom reiterated that he still plans to exercise the release clause in his contract after the season and test the open market.
Most pitchers with that recent injury history would be reluctant to walk away from a guaranteed $30.5 million in 2023 and perhaps another $32.5 million in 2024 via a Mets club option. However, if deGrom is healthy and playing as usual when he returns to the mound, he will surely land a more lucrative multi-year commitment. As pointed out by The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, $12 million of deGrom’s 2023 salary would also be deferred, allowing DeGrom to receive more upfront payments toward a new contract if he were to exit.
In other Mets contract news (or lack thereof), Puma reports that there has been no discussion between the club and Brandon Nimmo‘s representative about a contract extension. Nimmo has stated multiple times that he would be interested in working out a long-term deal as he enters his final season before free agency. In general, most players prefer not to continue talks past opening day, so if Nimmo meets this rough deadline there may not be much time left to close a deal.
Nimmo has been one of baseball’s more prolific players in recent years, hitting .266/.393/.445 with 47 homers over 1695 career PA. This equates to a very impressive 131 OPS+ and 134 wRC+, but the key stat might be the relatively low number of plate appearances as Nimmo has been plagued by multiple injuries. It could be that the Mets have been holding off extension talks to see if Nimmo can finally put together longer playing time in 2022, but if he stays healthy, Nimmo could be tempted to test the free-agent market.