Message #2206616

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From MLB.com:

By Anthony DiComo
May 11, 2021

NEW YORK -- Although the Mets officially placed Jacob deGrom on the injured list on Tuesday, pushing them into a short-term future without their ace, team officials expressed optimism that he could miss just one start.

That’s the best-case scenario for deGrom, whose absence may of course extend longer. For now, deGrom has already begun a throwing program that the Mets hope will keep his arm in shape while the tightness in his right side subsides.

“I didn’t think this was going to be anything long-term,” deGrom said. “It tightened up and I could feel it. The main concern was if I wasn’t able to get to where I wanted in my delivery, making sure I didn’t hurt my arm.”

That last part is why the Mets placed him on the IL. Even though an MRI revealed “nothing going on … no inflammation, no sprain, nothing,” as manager Luis Rojas put it, the fear is that deGrom’s right side tightness could affect his mechanics and cause greater harm. As such, the Mets took the cautious route.

“This is what happens sometimes when you’re tight from a particular area,” Rojas said. “You don’t feel pain, but it really causes you to move differently -- rotate, land. It causes a lot of things. You can lose your arm angle, and it can expose some things. Thank God it didn’t get that way. We don’t know exactly what caused it during the game, but I’m glad that Jake voiced it to us in the middle of the game there and told us. I thought this was an early catch just to prevent anything that could have been bad later.”

Upon departing Sunday’s game in the sixth inning due to tightness, deGrom received an MRI that night and refrained from throwing the following day, while the Mets’ medical and training staffs collaborated on a plan. He began playing catch off flat ground on Tuesday, with plans to throw a bullpen session at some point over the next week or so. If all goes well, deGrom could return when first eligible May 21 against the Marlins -- but the Mets won’t push him unless everything is trending well.