NEW YORK — The Mets have at least avoided the very worst news on Jacob deGrom, who had been shut down from throwing since the end of July and hasn’t pitched in a game since July 7.
After results from an MRI came back Wednesday, doctors cleared deGrom to play catch. He did so at Citi Field immediately.
Mets manager Luis Rojas was vague beyond that, saying that doctors “gave the green light” for the ace to play catch but there was “not a progression mapped out.” He said that he didn’t know the exact details of the MRI results, or if deGrom could possibly return in uniform this year.
“It’d be huge to have him at the end,” Rojas said. “To see Jake late, probably at a perfect point where we’re closing the gap or playing our division rivals, it would be ideal, right? ... We’ll see where we are, we’ll see how he progresses playing catch. If there’s a flag at some point, we’re probably gonna be smart about it. ... This is great news that we got from the doctor today that he’s throwing, that’s it,” he said.
Rojas said that deGrom has only slightly changed from his usual robotic self, good medical news or bad.
“Jake’s not a talker, he’s not animated any time — about great news like this or anything,” he said. “He just went out there and played catch. He does have a different demeanor, he can seem a little more outgoing walking around, having fun with the guys and all that. Before, when he was going through the shutdown, he was a little more quiet. You could see there was frustration; that’s gone now.”
