Mets ace Jacob deGrom's MRI comes back 'clean' after Friday injury scare
Jacob deGrom #48 of the Mets looks on from the mound against the San Diego Padres at Citi Field on Friday, June 11, 2021. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Jacob deGrom, who left Friday’s dominant start against San Diego after six innings because of an elbow-adjacent injury scare, had an MRI on Saturday morning that Mets manager Luis Rojas said was "clean."
The Mets ace played catch at Citi Field on Saturday. While Rojas said the club is going to be cautious, deGrom already said on Friday he doesn’t expect the bout of flexor tendinitis to keep him from making his next start. That would be Wednesday against the Cubs.
Said Rojas: "He came in today and he said that he was fine and he wanted to go outside and play catch."
On Friday, deGrom held the Padres to one hit and struck out 10 in six innings and had a two-run single (because of course he did) in the Mets’ 3-2 victory. DeGrom improved to 6-2 and lowered his ERA to 0.56. He is batting .400.
But, after saying he would not get an MRI on Friday night, the Mets reversed course and sent him for one on Saturday "just out of precaution," Rojas said.
"It came back, as we expected, clean," Rojas said. "We’re just taking it day-by-day . . . It’s the same diagnosis that we got yesterday when he came out. It’s something that we want to take day-by-day. We’ll see the progression in between starts and see that he can do everything, throw his side and make his next start. I mean, that’s the expectation right now, but we’re still going to want to pay close attention to it. Say, tomorrow again, when he comes in, and next day, next day, and all that. But, as of now, if we get that the MRI was clean and he’s playing catch and is fine . . . that’s two good things for the next day after coming out of the game."
DeGrom already has missed time this season with right side soreness. He said on Friday that, having undergone Tommy John surgery, he knows what an elbow injury feels like and this isn’t one. But the Mets still will be keeping an eye on their indispensable man.
"We’re just going to keep monitoring things," Rojas said. "We’ve done that every single one of his outings. That’s why sometimes he’s come out with a low pitch count. It’s just because of precaution. We want to have Jake the entire season, right?"
Mets fans can answer that one.
McKinney scratched
Billy McKinney was a late scratch from the lineup with a sore right knee. Rojas said the rightfielder had an MRI that did not show any issues and is day-to-day.
"He just didn’t feel right and we didn’t want to take a risk," Rojas said. "We’ll reassess what his status is tomorrow .
Mason Williams replaced McKinney in the lineup and played centerfield. Kevin Pillar, who was slated to start in center, moved to right.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
