The concern that New York Mets fans had when news broke that Jacob deGrom had tightness in his shoulder was well-founded.
On Friday, the Mets confirmed reports that deGrom will not throw for roughly four weeks.
Jacob deGrom underwent an MRI today that revealed a stress reaction on his scapula that has caused inflammation in the area. The immediate prescription is for Jake to discontinue throwing for up to 4 weeks and then reimage the area. At that time, we’ll update the plan of care.
— New York Mets (@Mets) April 1, 2022
Mets fans had some time to process this as a possibility after Thursday’s reports. Despite that, they were left devastated by the news.
Ugh. Not April fools joke 🙁 https://t.co/DRpOeEsbss
— Erica Herskowitz (@EricaWFAN) April 1, 2022
Just a devastating blow to start the ⚾️ season for deGrom. https://t.co/9sItvAwP4P
— Stephania Bell (@Stephania_ESPN) April 1, 2022
Ted Williams said hitting a baseball is the hardest thing to do in sports. I'd argue it's being a #Mets fan. Get well Jacob https://t.co/7mDuOu6Te2
— Benjamin Weingarten (@bhweingarten) April 1, 2022
going to need two business days to process this before I can speak about it https://t.co/ojCjEzF06v
— Kayla Pace (@KP_on_TV) April 1, 2022
You gotta be freaking kidding… ☹️😪 https://t.co/G3PrQAy4oj
— Metsmerized – Joe D (@MetsmerizedJoeD) April 1, 2022
https://t.co/V9zU7A2mPU pic.twitter.com/LjLwnYh6Xy
— Danonymous Man (@DanonymousMan) April 1, 2022
https://twitter.com/mets_patriot/status/1509985546151546887
You know, this sucks. https://t.co/OtqVnU6Ije
— Russell Dorsey (@Russ_Dorsey1) April 1, 2022
Why couldn't it have been his left shoulder? https://t.co/QJ3Ti71gDg
— Gary Myers (@GaryMyersNY) April 1, 2022
Sigh. And so it begins, for long-suffering #Mets fans. https://t.co/34qrNbp4VE
— Doug Sovern (@SovernNation) April 1, 2022
The Mets will begin their season on Thursday, April 7 on the road against the Washington Nationals. deGrom was scheduled to be that day’s starting pitcher, though that is obviously not going to happen now.
Before deGrom’s diagnosis, Mike Puma of the New York Post reported that newly-acquired Met Max Scherzer moving up in the rotation to start on Opening Day was likely.
Scherzer opening the season against one of his former teams caught people’s interest.
And after all this clears up, 3x Cy Young Winner, 2019 World Series Champ, and former #Nationals ace Max Scherzer will face his former club on Opening Day in DC. What a storyline. #MLB #Nats #Mets https://t.co/4loBtN1ppK
— Ben Favela (@diamondreport_) April 1, 2022
So, uh, the framing of this story is a little bit different now.
In all likelihood, Max Scherzer faces the Nationals on Opening Day on April 7. https://t.co/FkIcOGsz0U
— Jesse Dougherty (@dougherty_jesse) April 1, 2022
So Max Scherzer will start for the Mets against the Nationals on Opening Day at Nationals Park. Cool. This is cool. Seriously. I'm cool with it. pic.twitter.com/iUzDyOcPzE
— Grant Paulsen (@granthpaulsen) April 1, 2022
Mets fans realizing they have Max Scherzer as their ace but knowing Jacob deGrom is out indefinitely https://t.co/o5EakD6x97
— BetMGM 🦁 (@BetMGM) April 1, 2022
As far as consolation prizes go, that’s not bad. But deGrom being out is definitely bad news.
deGrom has been baseball’s best pitcher for a few years. Since 2018, he’s posted a 2.35 ERA, 0.96 WHIP an 11.7 K/9 rate and a 5.69 BB/9 rate. He won the National League Cy Young Award in 2018 and 2019. deGrom seemed on his way to winning that award (as well as possibly the NL MVP) again in 2021 until injuries sidetracked him. He made his last start of 2021 on July 7, missing the season’s final three months.
