Worrisome ailments continue to pile up for Mets ace Jacob deGrom, who has been scratched from his next start after cutting short a bullpen session Friday in Pittsburgh due to tightness in his right forearm.
The two-time Cy Young Award winner will not pitch either Sunday or Monday, as the team had hoped, although an MRI exam administered Saturday showed “no structural damage,” according to manager Luis Rojas.
The manager said Saturday was the first time he learned of deGrom’s forearm tightness. Rojas already had said Friday that deGrom wouldn’t pitch in Pittsburgh this weekend to maximize his starts against NL East opponents in the second half.
“He told me that he felt it in a side that he threw before the break,” Rojas said before Saturday’s game. “He played catch at home and intended to throw a side there, too, and he felt the tightness again and he just stopped … it’s a similar feel that he has in between sides sometimes with forearm tightness and it goes away, but this time it hasn’t gone away and that’s why right now he’s just getting treatment.
“Right now we’re treating the player for what he feels and what’s getting in the way of him doing his work. So that’s how we are approaching it right now, day-to-day, until he feels good that he can throw, but right now he’s not throwing. Until that tightness is gone, we’re just not going to have him throw.”
Taijuan Walker, who replaced deGrom on the National League roster for the All-Star Game this past Tuesday in Denver, will start Sunday’s series finale against the Pirates.
“Walker is going [Sunday] for us and we were TBA waiting on Jake to throw his side [on Friday],” Rojas said. “When he was throwing his side he felt some tightness in his forearm, and he didn’t finish his side.
“So we’re evaluating him. He has been getting treatment so we’ll see where he’s at, but right now he’s not pitching Monday, either. We are approaching him day-to-day at this time.”
The 33-year-old deGrom, who leads the majors with a 1.08 ERA, hasn’t pitched since July 7 after dealing with three different physical issues in the first half, including flexor tendinitis in his right arm and shoulder soreness last month. Rojas added that he has been told that none of deGrom’s health issues have been related to each other.
The latest deGrom news was revealed shortly after the Mets announced shortstop Francisco Lindor had been placed on the injured list with a Grade 2 oblique strain. Carlos Carrasco, obtained with Lindor from Cleveland in the offseason, tossed two scoreless innings in his first rehab start Thursday for High-A Brooklyn after missing the entire first half with a torn hamstring suffered in spring training.
Asked if deGrom’s injury heightened the urgency for Carrasco to build his innings at the major league level, Rojas said: “Right now I don’t think we can rush any player’s rehab stint or progression just because this is happening. I don’t think we just speed up some things. … That’s something to wait on how Cookie is and if he’s gonna make a rehab start the next time, or if he’s going to come to us. That’s something that we need to have a discussion. He’s the one that’s got to feel comfortable doing it.”
