NEW YORK — Jacob deGrom’s path to pitching again this season just added another roadblock.
DeGrom completed his two-week shutdown from throwing and underwent his scheduled follow-up MRI on his elbow inflammation. Then he flew cross-country to see surgeon Neal ElAttrache, one of the nation’s top orthopedists and the head team doctor for the Dodgers, to receive a second opinion.
On Thursday, ElAttrache told deGrom he should not pick up a ball for another two weeks, making the possibility of him pitching again for the Mets this season more unlikely.
“He is frustrated,” said Mets manager Luis Rojas. “He wants to get back in there, he wants to pitch. But he wants to get all these things out of the way. He trusts our doctors’ opinions.”
The Mets ace will undergo another MRI at the end of the month — following 14 more days of being shut down from any baseball activity — and continue to be reassessed to determine whether he can begin ramping up again.
The silver lining for the two-time Cy Young award winner is that there is no ligament damage in his elbow. Mets manager Luis Rojas said: “It’s strictly inflammation. That’s what [the MRI] showed the first time. It’s less of that now. That’s what I’ve been told.”
DeGrom last started for the Mets on July 7 against the Brewers. Though he stayed active over the All-Star break, played catch, and intended to make his next start later that month in Pittsburgh, the inflammation in his elbow abruptly stopped his throwing and workload. Now, the Mets are not sure how much time deGrom will need to ramp back up — he already hasn’t competed in five weeks — and depending on where the team is positioned in the NL East standings in two weeks, it may make more sense to let deGrom rest up for the 2022 season.
The Mets on Friday entered a tough break in their schedule — opening 13 straight games against NL West titans in the Dodgers and Giants — which will paint a better picture of where they stand come September. The Mets’ biggest ally in their postseason push continues to be the mediocre NL East. Their best chance to qualify for October baseball is to win the division and of course, a lot can change in the remaining seven weeks on the 2021 schedule. The Mets entered Friday in second place, a half-game behind the Phillies.
The best-case scenario for the Mets is now likely a healthy deGrom in the playoffs. The team is expected to be cautious with his ramp up — if he is cleared to throw again around the end of the month. Since the Mets maintain they do not know what caused the elbow inflammation, it’s possible, if not likely, that throwing again will reaggravate it.
DeGrom went on the injured list with the best ERA (1.08) in MLB across 15 starts and 92 innings. He was on his way to his third Cy Young award in four years — striking out 146 batters, posting an otherworldly 0.554 WHIP — and this year, even racking up seven wins.
The curious thing about deGrom’s continued excellence on the mound this season was that he was battling injuries throughout the year. His elbow inflammation is the fifth malady he’s sustained in 2021, so while the aches and pains have made deGrom uncomfortable, they clearly did not hinder his performance. If he is able to rehab and recover in time for a potential October run, it would be surprising if deGrom is anything but dominant in the postseason.
For now, though, the Mets rotation must improve from its 5.34 ERA since the All-Star break to keep any chance of playoff magic alive. Rojas said he is confident that Marcus Stroman, Taijuan Walker, Carlos Carrasco, Rich Hill and Tylor Megill can pitch effectively down the stretch.
“Right now, we are playing without him, and I feel like we have the talent to compete and win games,” Rojas said. “And I’ve felt like that for the whole season, so I have to say the same thing. ... We have a lot of talent on our roster and the guys work hard and trust in each other’s abilities, and we have dealt with this the same thing the entire season, so I don’t think that’s changing.
“And my thoughts of this group, they believe in each other, and they show it every day out on the field. So I believe that we are going to win some games with this group of guys. Nothing is making us less or more right now because we have gone through this the whole season.”
