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Jacob deGrom

Injury Notes: deGrom, Muncy, Heaney, Flaherty, Dickerson

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Jacob deGrom hit a notable checkpoint in his injury recovery today, as the Mets ace threw a 19-pitch bullpen session.  GM Billy Eppler told reporters (including MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo) that deGrom threw only fastballs of “moderate intensity,” and deGrom will continue to build up his arm strength and readiness with more bullpen sessions in the coming days.

Between the planned program of these bullpens, live batting practice, and then 3-5 rehab starts in the minors, deGrom is tentatively scheduled to make his season debut in July.  This timeline is still fluid, of course, given how today’s bullpen session marked the very first time deGrom has even pitched off a mound since March.  Between a forearm issue that prematurely ended his 2021 season and then a stress reaction in his right shoulder during Spring Training, deGrom hasn’t pitched in a Major League game since July 7, 2021.

More on other injury situations around baseball…

  • Max Muncy and Andrew Heaney began rehab assignments with the Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate, with both veterans in tonight’s starting lineup.  Muncy was only played on the 10-day IL on May 28, and given how he has been playing with a partial UCL tear since last October, it is a very promising sign to see him already on a rehab assignment, though it isn’t know how many games Muncy will play in Triple-A.  Heaney seems likely to receive multiple rehab starts considering his longer stint on the injured list, as shoulder discomfort sidelined the left-handed back on April 20.
  • Jack Flaherty is also set to start his own rehab assignment, as the Cardinals right-hander is scheduled to pitch Sunday for Double-A Springfield.  Cards manager Oliver Marmol told MLB.com’s John Denton and other reporters that Flaherty will throw 40-45 pitches, and depending on his status following that outing, will then throw either 40-45 pitches or 55-60 pitches in his next rehab start.  Shoulder problems have plagued Flaherty in each of the last two seasons, and he has yet to pitch in 2022 due to inflammation in his right shoulder during Spring Training.
  • In other St. Louis injury news, Corey Dickerson made an early exit from the first game of the Cardinals’ doubleheader with the Cubs.  Dickerson was replaced in right field prior to the bottom of the second inning due to left calf discomfort, and it isn’t clear if the injury was triggered by anything in the game, as Dickerson had yet to make a play in the field or take an at-bat.  After signing a one-year, $5MM free agent deal with St. Louis in March, Dickerson has hit only .194/.245/.286 in his first 106 plate appearances, though he is coming off his best game of the season — Dickerson hit his first two home runs of 2022 in the Cardinals’ 14-5 victory over the Cubs on Friday.

Mets Notes: deGrom, Megill, McNeil

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The Mets have been without Jacob deGrom all season, although the club has maintained he’s progressing well in his recovery from a Spring Training stress reaction in his scapula. deGrom has been throwing off flat ground for a couple weeks, and Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News tweeted yesterday that he’s lengthened out to throwing from 95-100 feet.

More encouragingly, Thosar suggests the star right-hander could progress to throwing a bullpen session by this weekend. That’d mark a notable step in his recovery, although he’ll presumably need multiple mound sessions before he progresses to facing live hitters. Anthony DiComo of MLB.com wrote last week that deGrom is also expected to require three-to-five rehab starts in the minor leagues before returning to the majors.

There are still significant hurdles before deGrom will be back in a game at Citi Field, but he continues to make incremental strides. Jon Heyman of the New York Post said on yesterday’s The Show podcast with colleague Joel Sherman that he’d heard a “late June” potential timetable for deGrom’s return to the big leagues from a team source (Mets’ talk around 34:00 mark). Even if his rehab lingers a bit beyond then, the organization is surely hopeful the two-time Cy Young winner will be healthy for the second half of the season.

The Mets are also down Max Scherzer and Tylor Megill, leaving them to rely on their rotation depth. Scherzer isn’t likely to be back before the All-Star Break, while Megill has been out since May 15 because of biceps inflammation. Pitching coach Jeremy Hefner suggested Megill’s further along in his recovery than deGrom (Thosar link), but he’s not yet thrown a bullpen session and certainly won’t be ready to return when first eligible on Friday.

While the rotation has taken some key hits, the position player group has been healthy aside from catcher James McCann (out through late June because of a hand fracture). Second baseman/left fielder Jeff McNeil is now day-to-day after crashing into the wall chasing a fly ball this afternoon. Mike Puma of the Post was among those to relay (on Twitter) that he’s been diagnosed with a left knee contusion.

The subject of some trade speculation over the winter, the lefty-hitting McNeil is rewarding the organization’s decision to keep him in Flushing. Across 170 plate appearances, he’s hitting .323/.376/.458 with a minuscule 10% strikeout rate. McNeil only has two home runs, but he’s among the top 25 qualified hitters in both batting average and on-base percentage.

Mets Sign Trevor Cahill To Minor League Contract

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The Mets recently agreed to a minor league deal with veteran starter Trevor Cahill, as Joel Sherman of the New York Post first reported. According to the righty’s transactions tracker at MLB.com, he has been assigned to the team’s Florida complex.

Cahill will presumably head to Triple-A Syracuse at some point, but Sherman notes that he’ll first need time to build into game shape. That’s no surprise, as he hasn’t pitched since last June. A member of the Pirates at the time, Cahill landed on the injured list with a left calf strain. He was quickly transferred to the 60-day IL and didn’t return, quietly hitting free agency at the end of the year.

Before the injury, Cahill made nine appearances (including eight starts) for the Bucs. He managed just a 6.57 ERA over 37 innings, striking out a below-average 19.3% of opposing hitters. The sinkerballer induced grounders at a typically robust 55.2% clip, though, and he’s been excellent at keeping the ball in the yard throughout his career.

Cahill doesn’t throw hard or miss many bats, and his results have been inconsistent in recent years. Yet the 12-year big league veteran has continued to earn opportunities as a depth arm, having reached the majors each season since 2009. After an early run as a rotation stalwart with the A’s and Diamondbacks, Cahill has suited up for eight different clubs over the past seven seasons.

He’s a perfectly sensible veteran depth option for the Mets, who have taken some hits to their star-studded rotation. Jacob deGrom has still yet to pitch recovering from the stress reaction that arose in his throwing shoulder late in Spring Training. He is throwing but not yet ready for a minor league rehab assignment, and a specific timeline is still unclear. (Jon Heyman of the Post noted yesterday that he’s not likely to be available until some point in July). Making matters worse, New York just lost co-ace Max Scherzer for six-to-eight weeks because of an oblique strain.

Tylor Megill is also on the injured list because of biceps inflammation, although the prognosis seems more promising there. Anthony DiComo of MLB.com tweeted last night that Megill is tentatively expected to play catch today, his first time throwing since hitting the IL a week ago. If all goes according to plan, it doesn’t seem the 26-year-old is in for too long an absence.

For the moment, New York is set to rely on a primary starting five of Chris Bassitt, Carlos Carrasco, Taijuan Walker, David Peterson and Trevor Williams. That’s a solid group — particularly for a team down three of its top arms — but New York has already had to call on their depth options and the minor league ranks have thinned out. Further rotation injuries could put the organization in a precarious spot, so they’ll add Cahill as an insurance option.

DeGrom MRI Reveals “Continued Healing”; Still No Clear Timetable For Return

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Mets ace Jacob deGrom, who has yet to pitch this season and is on the mend from a stress reaction in his right scapula, underwent his latest follow-up MRI yesterday, the team announced. They issued the following statement in the wake of this latest test:

“He underwent follow-up imaging yesterday that revealed continued healing in the scapula. He will continue to build distance and velocity in his throwing program, and we will provide an update on his progress when appropriate.”

On the one hand, it’s somewhat encouraging that there’s been no setback and deGrom ostensibly appears to be progressing toward a return. On the other, it’s surely frustrating for all parties that there’s no clear indication as to when deGrom might get back on the mound at Citi Field. MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo wrote last night, after speaking to pitching coach Jeremy Hefner, that deGrom would require between three and five minor league rehab starts.

Of course, given the vague nature of the Mets’ statement, it’s not clear just when that minor league rehab work might begin. The Mets indicated that deGrom is still throwing, but the standard progression would be to go from flat ground, to mound work, to facing live hitters before jumping into a rehab game — with rest days smattered throughout that process. If deGrom is indeed slated for five rehab appearances, that could tack upwards of four weeks onto the process. Inferring a bit, it’s hard to see him back before mid-to-late June at this point, but the Mets have rather deliberately avoided making any definitive statements.

“We don’t want to mess around with reinjuring that type of situation, because then he’s done for the year,” Hefner told DiComo yesterday. “So we’re definitely going to play the long game with him to make sure that we have him for the rest of the season.”

Looking purely at the standings, no one would be able to tell that the Mets have been missing the game’s best pitcher this season. Their 23-13 record already gives them a hefty 5.5-game lead over the second-place Phillies in the National League East, to say nothing of the game’s third best winning percentage (.639, trailing only the Dodgers and Yankees). The Mets have received seven starts apiece from Max Scherzer, Chris Bassitt, Carlos Carrasco and Tylor Megill, and that quartet has combined for an outstanding 3.22 ERA in 162 innings. Taijuan Walker (four starts) and David Peterson (three) have also been excellent in their opportunities thus far.

On the whole, Mets starters rank sixth in the Majors in ERA — even without deGrom. They’re also ranked third in FIP and fifth in SIERA, in addition to possessing the seventh-best strikeout rate and second-lowest walk rate of any team in baseball. Given the group’s collective dominance, the Mets can afford to take a more cautious approach with deGrom. That may well have been the team’s approach regardless, but an outstanding rotation and comfortable first-place lead certainly quell any temptation to push deGrom that might crop up in a more tightly contested division and/or with broad-reaching struggles from alternative rotation options.

Mets Claim Locke St. John, Move Jacob deGrom To 60-Day IL

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The Mets have claimed left-hander Locke St. John off waivers from the Cubs, who designated St. John for assignment last week.  To create space on the 40-man roster, New York moved Jacob deGrom to the 60-day injured list.

St. John signed a minor league deal with Chicago in December, and his tenure with the club consisted of seven innings over five Triple-A games, and a single inning in the majors.  It was a second cup of coffee for St. John, whose previous MLB experience was seven games with the Rangers in 2019.  A longtime Tigers farmhand before Texas selected him away from Detroit in the December 2017 Rule 5 Draft, St. John returned to the Tigers on another minors deal last winter but didn’t see any big league action in 2021.

The waiver claim adds a bit more left-handed depth to the Mets’ relief corps, with Joely Rodriguez and Chasen Shreve serving as the only southpaws in the Amazins’ bullpen.  Elsewhere on the 40-man roster, the only other left-handers are starter David Peterson and Thomas Szapucki, who is working his way back after having his 2021 season cut short by ulnar nerve transposition surgery.

For deGrom, the shift to the 60-day IL doesn’t much change his situation, and he is still around another week away from further imaging on his throwing shoulder.  A stress reaction in that shoulder sidelined deGrom for yet another extended absence, and since he’ll require quite a bit of ramp-up before finally taking to the mound, it is seems like deGrom will be out until late June at the earliest.

Latest On Jacob deGrom

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Jacob deGrom went for a follow-up MRI on his injured shoulder yesterday, and the team provided reporters (including Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News and Anthony DiComo of MLB.com) with an update late last night. According to the club, imaging showed “considerable healing of the stress reaction on his scapula.” Doctors have cleared deGrom to start “loading and strengthening” his shoulder, but he will not begin throwing. The team is likely to send deGrom for further imaging in around three weeks.

Certainly, it’s a positive to hear of “considerable healing.” deGrom told reporters just before Opening Day his shoulder had held up structurally, adding “once the bone heals, then we’ll be ready to go and build up from there and hopefully be healthy for the rest of the year.” That the bone has progressed in the three and a half weeks since then is a welcome development for his long-term prognosis.

That said, the announcement deGrom won’t yet start a throwing program seems to suggest he’s not especially close to returning. Both Thosar and DiComo indicate it’s unclear whether the team is ruling deGrom out from beginning a throwing program until his next imaging three weeks from now. If that proves to be the case, there’d be virtually no chance of the two-time Cy Young award winner returning at the start of June as had been hoped.

deGrom hasn’t pitched in a regular season game since July 7 of last year. He spent the second half of the season on the injured list recovering from an elbow issue. That brought an unfortunate early end to what looked as if it might be one of the most dominant performances by a pitcher in league history. deGrom returned this spring and made two starts in Grapefruit League play before feeling some shoulder soreness during a between-outings long toss session. The team sent him for an MRI, which revealed the stress reaction that has shut him down thus far.

In deGrom’s absence, the Mets opened the season with a rotation of Max Scherzer, Chris Bassitt, Tylor Megill, Carlos Carrasco and Taijuan Walker. That’s an impressive top five even sans arguably baseball’s best arm. The top four pitchers have been excellent, with each member of that group posting an ERA and SIERA of 3.00 or lower through their first few starts.

Walker landed on the IL just two innings into his season debut because of shoulder bursitis, but he’s expected to return this weekend. Lefty David Peterson has stepped into his place and pitched very well himself. Only the Dodgers (2.09) have a better rotation ERA than the Mets’ 2.29 in the early going, a big reason New York has raced to a 13-5 start.

Injury Notes: Bell, Voit, deGrom, Walker

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Josh Bell left today’s 5-2 Nationals loss to the Giants due to tightness in his right hamstring.  Bell walked and advanced to third base during the bottom of the second, but was replaced in the field for the top of the third inning.  Nationals manager Davey Martinez said Bell was undergoing an MRI, which would mark the second MRI of the week for the first baseman after tests were negative on his left knee.  Soreness in that left knee also forced Bell to make an early exit from Washington’s game on Wednesday.

Given that previous injury, Martinez told reporters (including Bobby Blanco of MASNsports.com) that “I want to be cautious” with Bell’s status.  More will be known when the MRI results are in, but the Nationals might still opt to sit Bell on Sunday with an off-day coming up Monday, in the hopes that two days of rest will get him ready for Tuesday’s game with the Marlins.  Apart from Bell and Juan Soto, the Nats are almost entirely off to a slow offensive start, so any time missed for Bell (batting .345/.446/.509 over his first 67 plate appearances) is a big loss for the D.C. lineup.

More injury news from around baseball….

  • Luke Voit has been bothered by a lingering right biceps problems, the Padres first baseman told The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Jeff Saunders and other reporters.  With only a .143/.315/.167 slash line over his first 54 PA, Voit bluntly described himself as “a waste of an at-bat right now.  I’m not doing the team any good.  I played through injuries last year and it’s really hard.”  Voit isn’t in tonight’s lineup, and while manager Bob Melvin indicated that Voit could be available to pinch-hit, a trip to the injured list might be necessary.
  • In an update on Jacob deGrom, the Mets ace underwent MRI and CT scans yesterday, manager Buck Showalter told The New York Post’s Mike Puma and other reporters.  The MRI came a few days earlier than initially expected, though regardless, it doesn’t seem as though the Mets will have a plan of action in place anyway until doctors have fully reviewed the results.  A stress reaction in deGrom’s right scapula during Spring Training resulted in a four-week shutdown, and these test results will mark the next step in the right-hander’s recovery process.  If all goes well, deGrom could be cleared to start throwing, and a possible timetable could be floated for deGrom’s 2022 debut.
  • Taijuan Walker is much closer to his return, as Showalter told reporters (including MLB.com’s Jake Rill) that the right-hander is tentatively set to face the Phillies on either Friday or Saturday.  Walker tossed two innings in his first Mets start of the season but has since been on the 10-day IL recovering from shoulder bursitis.  After throwing a side session yesterday, Walker is now lined up for either a minor league rehab start or a simulated game on Tuesday.

Jacob deGrom Slated For Followup MRI Next Week

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Mets ace Jacob deGrom is slated to undergo a followup MRI on his ailing right shoulder next Monday, the team told reporters Tuesday (Twitter link via Anthony DiComo of MLB.com). If that round of imaging goes well, it’s possible he’ll be cleared to begin throwing shortly thereafter.

The Mets haven’t received an inning from deGrom so far in 2022, as he’s been shelved after being diagnosed with a stress reaction in his right scapula back on April 1. The original recommendation was for a four-week shutdown. A two-time Cy Young winner, deGrom pitched to a superhuman 1.08 ERA with a 45.1% strikeout rate and 3.4% walk rate in 92 frames last year before being shut down in early July with a forearm issue that eventually proved to be a season-ender.

There’s still no timetable on deGrom’s return and won’t be until that MRI next week is complete, although the Mets have not yet placed him on the 60-day injured list. That leaves open the possibility that he could return before the early-June point that such a move would necessitate.

Even without deGrom and right-hander Taijuan Walker, who’s currently out with a case of bursitis in his right shoulder, the Mets’ rotation hasn’t missed much of a beat so far in 2021. Righty Tylor Megill has gotten out to a magnificent start, hurling 11 shutout innings while brandishing an improved heater that has enjoyed a velocity spike of nearly two miles per hour. Former Cleveland star Carlos Carrasco, who struggled mightily in his first year with the Mets last season, has looked like his old self for his first two trips to the mound. Trade acquisition Chris Bassitt, meanwhile, has allowed just one run through a dozen frames. Max Scherzer has had a pair of sharp outings to begin his Mets career, and lefty David Peterson has yet to allow a run through 8 1/3 frames.

The 33-year-old deGrom is being paid $33.5MM in the penultimate guaranteed season of a five-year, $137.5MM contract. He can opt out of that deal at season’s end — a right he’s said he still plans to exercise even after missing the early portion of the season on the injured list. The right-hander’s current contract would pay him $30.5MM in 2023 and gives the Mets a $32.5MM option on the 2024 season.

Mets Notes: Scherzer, deGrom, Nimmo

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Max Scherzer is set to throw a bullpen session on Tuesday, Mets manager Buck Showalter told Newsday’s Tim Healey and other reporters.  Right hamstring tightness kept Scherzer out of a scheduled seven-inning intrasquad game on Saturday, which was supposed to be Scherzer’s last bit of spring work before the beginning of the regular season.

The ace has already tossed 11 Grapefruit League innings, so his arm might already be built up enough should he get through Tuesday’s bullpen without any ill effects.  It is also possible that the Mets might opt for some extra caution, and either push Scherzer’s first start back at least a few days, or maybe even sideline him with a backdated IL visit just to be completely sure that the 37-year-old is fully ready.

Scherzer’s health has taken on an greater import for the Mets in the wake of Friday’s news that Jacob deGrom will miss probably at least the first two months of the season after an MRI revealed a stress reaction in his right scapula.  The Mets begin play on April 7 with seven straight games (a four-game series against the Nationals and then a three-game series against the Phillies), so there aren’t any off-days to provide breathing room for the pitching staff.

DeGrom and Scherzer had been penciled in for the first two games of the schedule, with Chris Bassitt, Carlos Carrasco, and Taijuan Walker then slated to follow in the rotation.  Rather than disrupt this planned routine, if Scherzer can’t pitch on April 7, any of Tyler Megill, David Peterson, or 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 starting pitching help, so a new face might suddenly emerge to help fill out the rotation picture.

DeGrom met with reporters (including The New York Post’s Mike Puma) today to discuss his injury, and unsurprisingly, his “level of frustration is really high right now” over another lengthy stint on the injured list.  A forearm injury ended deGrom’s 2021 season on July 7, cutting short an incredible year that saw deGrom post an 1.08 ERA over 92 innings.

If there is any silver lining, deGrom is confident that his stress reaction won’t be a lingering problem: “Structurally everything looks fine, so once the bone heals then we’ll be ready to go and build up from there and hopefully be healthy for the rest of the year.”  As such, deGrom reiterated that he is still planning to exercise the opt-out clause in his contract after the season, and test the open market.

Most pitchers with this recent injury history would be more hesitant over walking away from a guaranteed $30.5MM in 2023, plus maybe another $32.5MM in 2024 via a Mets club option.  However, if deGrom is healthy and pitches like his usual self when he returns to the mound, he’ll surely land a more lucrative multi-year commitment.  As The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal pointed out, $12MM of deGrom’s 2023 salary would also be deferred, so opting out would allow deGrom to land more up-front money in a new contract.

In other Mets contract news (or lack thereof), Puma reports that there hasn’t been any discussion between the club and Brandon Nimmo’s representatives 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 to not let talks carry on beyond Opening Day, so there might not be a lot of time left for a deal to get done if Nimmo adheres to this rough deadline.

Nimmo has been one of baseball’s more quietly productive players in recent years, hitting .266/.393/.445 with 47 home runs over 1695 career PA.  This translates to a very impressive 131 OPS+ and 134 wRC+, but the key statistic might be the relatively small amount of plate appearances, as Nimmo has been beset by multiple injuries.  It could be that the Mets have held off on extension talks in order to see if Nimmo can finally put together a lengthy stretch of playing time in 2022, though if he does stay healthy, Nimmo might then be tempted to test the free agent market.

Jacob deGrom Shut Down For Four Weeks Due To Stress Reaction In Shoulder

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Mets right-hander Jacob deGrom was to undergo an MRI today, and the news isn’t positive for the former NL Cy Young Award winner.  As per ESPN’s Jeff Passan, deGrom suffered a stress reaction in his right scapula.  The Mets announced that DeGrom will be re-evaluated after being shut down for the next four weeks.

Between the shutdown, the necessary ramp-up period, and probably some natural caution given all of deGrom’s recent injuries, a 60-day IL placement seems likely.  That would put deGrom on track for a June debut in a best-case scenario, and thus it will mean that the ace will be going roughly 11 months between Major League outings.  DeGrom last pitched on July 7, 2021 before then suffering a forearm issue that wound up ending his season.

Between that forearm problem and multiple smaller injuries beforehand, deGrom pitched only 92 innings in 2021, though he was spectacular in that abbreviated campaign.  DeGrom had a 1.08 ERA, 45.1% strikeout rate, and a 3.4% walk rate, and seemed to be on pace for a season for the ages.  Despite all his missed time, deGrom’s performance still earned him a ninth-place finish in NL Cy Young voting.

If there is any silver lining to today’s news, a stress reaction is at least preferable to a more serious shoulder injury, as Passan writes that “typically, stress reactions are healed through rest.”  Retired right-hander Brandon McCarthy (who suffered the same injury early in his career) also chimed in, tweeting that the stress reaction “really isn’t a big deal.  Not as big as it seems.  [DeGrom will] be just fine.”

With deGrom out of action, the Mets’ rotation depth will be tested again.  Max Scherzer, Carlos Carrasco, Taijuan Walker, and the newly-acquired Chris Bassitt will now form the top four, and one of Tylor Megill, Trevor Williams, or David Peterson will step into that fifth starter’s role.  It could be that the Mets use more than one of those hurlers as a starter, and as always, a new acquisition can’t be ruled out given how aggressive the Mets have been this winter.  However, GM Billy Eppler told reporters (including Deesha Thosar of The New York Daily News) that deGrom’s injury doesn’t necessarily make a trade for pitching any more likely.

Beyond the short-term impact of the injury on deGrom’s status and on the Mets’ season, there is also a longer-term contractual situation looming.  DeGrom has already stated that he plans to exercise the opt-out clause in his contract following the season, though naturally this latest injury could change his thinking.  DeGrom is owed $33.5MM this season and $30.5MM in 2023, and New York has a $32.5MM club option on his services for 2024.  If deGrom returns from his injury and posts his usual numbers, he’ll still surely opt out in search of a lengthier and more lucrative deal with the Mets or another team.  Should he miss more time, however, or struggle following his return, it will create more of a decision for deGrom in choosing whether or not to test the open market.

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