With Jacob deGrom sidelined for a while, the natural move for the New York Mets would be to make Max Scherzer the Opening Day starting pitcher. In an ideal world, that’s what would happen. In this world, though, that’s not official — and we now know why.
Shortly after the extent of deGrom’s injury became public, New York manager Buck Showalter stopped short of declaring Scherzer as the Opening Day starter. So, what gives? As it turns out, Scherzer is dealing with an injury of his own.
Speaking on the Carton & Roberts show on WFAN, host Evan Roberts said that a source within the organization has told him that Scherzer is dealing with a hamstring injury.
A source told Evan that Max Scherzer is dealing with a hamstring injury
— Evan and Tiki (@EvanandTikiWFAN) April 1, 2022
No, it’s not an April Fools’ joke. The Scherzer news caused some of New York’s fans to hit the panic button.
Wake me in June https://t.co/PJzvLqvFZ1
— Nick Rubek (@nickrubek) April 1, 2022
What the hell is happening? https://t.co/CSSk74P8tF
— Stacey with an e (@StaceGots) April 1, 2022
Wake me in June https://t.co/PJzvLqvFZ1
— Nick Rubek (@nickrubek) April 1, 2022
https://t.co/QyORrJyBMW pic.twitter.com/Cn6Au6DPnW
— Aléx Young (@AlexYoung) April 1, 2022
This is definitely not good news. The last thing that any Mets fan wants to hear is that Scherzer, the franchise’s prized offseason acquisition, is now hurt. Furthermore, hamstring injuries often have a slow recovery process because there’s generally nothing that can be done to expedite the healing process.
That’s the bad news. Fortunately for Mets fans, there’s good news here.
Andy Martino of SNY spoke of the reports and said that Scherzer’s injury isn’t thought to be serious. He added that New York believes Scherzer will be ready for Opening Day.
.@martinonyc on the report that Max Scherzer has a hamstring issue:
"What I'm told from the team is that they do think right now that Scherzer is going to be okay for Opening Day" pic.twitter.com/RJ4QtQhPmi
— SNY (@SNYtv) April 1, 2022
That news didn’t keep Mets fans from being pessimistic.
Why does this always have to happen to my fav team why. Season hasn’t started yet and the player injury’s that hurts us is happening. https://t.co/uK40A1RaYv
— Daniel BOBO (@bobo103nyc) April 1, 2022
Sheesh, tough day for the Mets rotation. https://t.co/fgH0KBnz7A
— Chris Henderson (@Baseball4Brains) April 1, 2022
https://twitter.com/AntsTweeting/status/1510022025947004937
We can’t blame anyone for being pessimistic. But consider this.
Even if the Opening Day prognosis ends up being overly optimistic, it doesn’t seem as though Scherzer will miss a lot of time. That’s good news for the Mets and their fans.
Further good news is that these injuries are happening early. You never want to see the best players from your favorite team get hurt. But if it’s going to take place, it’s much better for that to happen in April than in September. The Mets come into the 2022 season with real championship aspirations. These injuries won’t help those. But if Scherzer and deGrom are healthy down the stretch, New York will still be a tough team to beat.
