How long is Jacob deGrom out? Injury timeline, return date, latest updates on Mets star pitcher
Jacob deGrom was slated to be on the bump in time for the Mets’ Opening Day, but he suffered another injury setback. According to The Athletic, an MRI revealed that deGrom suffered a stress reaction in his right shoulder. He won’t throw for four weeks, at which point the Mets will re-evaluate deGrom’s status.
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
deGrom, one of the game’s brightest stars, has struggled to stay healthy in the past season or so. The Sporting News breaks down deGrom’s injury history and timetable for return:
Jacob deGrom injury timeline
deGrom, the 2018 and 2019 NL Cy Young award winner, was putting up perhaps the finest season of his career in 2021. In 15 starts, deGrom went 7-2 with a 1.08 ERA, striking out 146 batters in 92 innings. deGrom was on pace to contend for yet another Cy Young award until he went down in July with inflammation in his throwing elbow. The injury kept him out for the remainder of the season.
He returned to the mound in spring training and looked back to his best, posting a 1.80 ERA in two starts.
When could Jacob deGrom return from injury?
The Mets announced that deGrom will not throw for four weeks, at which point they will reimage his shoulder and update their treatment plan. With that being said, it seems unlikely that we will see deGrom before May. For a Mets side with World Series aspirations, deGrom’s absence could loom large. Manager Buck Showalter will hope that new acquisition Max Scherzer, who has dealt with hamstring problems of his own during spring training, can carry the load with deGrom on the mend.
Jacob deGrom injury history
Prior to last season, deGrom had been fairly healthy over the course of his Mets career. deGrom has thrice exceeded 200 innings in a season, an impressive stat for a hurler with the sort of velocity deGrom possesses.
Still, deGrom missed the last three months of last season with elbow inflammation. With deGrom likely to opt out of his current deal, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, it seems both the Mets and deGrom are at a crossroads. deGrom got a late start to his big league career, failing to cut his cloth at major league level until his age-26 season. Eight years later, he has established himself as the best pitcher in the game — in his 91 starts since the beginning of the 2018 season, deGrom has a 1.91 ERA and 774 strikeouts in 581 innings, according to Baseball Reference.
deGrom turns 34 in June, though. Given deGrom’s age and recent injury history, a large contract may present a risk for the Mets.
However, as Rosenthal pointed out in his column, the injury deGrom is dealing with — a stress reaction in the scapula of his right shoulder — is fairly treatable. As former big-league pitcher Brandon McCarthy tweeted:
Since this injury technically should be named after me I can say that this really isn’t a big deal. Not as big as it seems. He’ll be just fine. https://t.co/U9X5gcaN65
— Brandon McCarthy (@BMcCarthy32) April 1, 2022