The Mets announced Monday that Jacob deGrom will be placed on the 10-day injured list with right side tightness after an MRI exam was clean of issues.
deGrom removed himself from Sunday’s outing against Arizona after five innings of work. It was his first appearance after skipping his previous start due to swelling in his right lat.
The right lat is the right latissimus dorsi, a back muscle that connects the upper arm to the spine and the hip.
Aggravating that muscle sounds serious enough to give anyone a moment of pause, right? Well, what if you’re the best pitcher in baseball?
Manager Luis Rojas, afterwards, described the latest setback for deGrom as lower back tightness on the right side.
The MRI for deGrom was clean, however, there’s legitimate reason for concern.
The first blip on the radar, the swelling in his right lat, was enough for the Mets to skip deGrom’s start. It’s what you do for your two-time Cy Young award winner.
In deGrom’s start against Arizona, when we all believed he was ready to come back, he struck out six batters and threw four perfect innings before running into trouble in the fifth. Throughout that inning, deGrom’s pitching mechanics clearly looked off. When he returned to the field for the top of the sixth, it only took two warmup pitches for the team’s trainer to come out and check on him. A few minutes later, deGrom departed for the dugout.
The Mets went on to defeat the Diamondbacks and sweep their weekend series. However, deGrom’s walk into the dugout was the second blip on the radar.
There doesn’t need to be a third blip.
The right move for the Mets was to place deGrom on the injured list. The logic is simple, the man is injured.
Moreover, he’s the best pitcher in baseball.
The first-place Mets, at 16-13, are one game in front of the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League east division. There’s still plenty of season left, and deGrom is not just an essential piece, he’s the essential piece. He’s the one piece on the board that’s irreplaceable.
“We don’t try to force anything here, knowing that there’s something going on,” Mets manager Luis Rojas said. “We always try to make sure that our guys are everything-free — tightness-free, soreness-free, everything.”
In other words, peace of mind is always the prudent course of action. When you’re dealing with a special arm, such as the one on deGrom, you do what the Mets did today. He’ll sit for at least 10 days, he’ll rest what ails him. And then the Mets will re-evaluate the ace of their pitching staff, including his lat and lower back, before deciding what’s next.
deGrom leads MLB in earned run average with a sizzling 0.68. The No. 2 arm in New York’s rotation, Marcus Stroman, ranks 10th with a 2.12 ERA. It’s been the Mets’ pitching staff which has been the team’s strength so far in 2021. And deGrom is the centerpiece.
The Mets said they’ll announce a corresponding roster move on Tuesday. The move made on Monday, was the right one.
Image: Mike Stobe/Getty Images
