Jacob deGrom pitches three scoreless innings in second rehab start
Jacob deGrom pitches in a rehab game for the St. Lucie Mets on Friday in Daytona. Credit: Noah Goldberg
Jacob deGrom threw three shutout innings and struck out six on Friday night in his second minor-league rehab start.
Pitching for the St. Lucie Mets at Jackie Robinson Ballpark in Daytona, Florida, deGrom threw 36 pitches as he continues his comeback from a stress reaction in his right scapula.
Unlike his first outing Sunday — in which he struck out five of six batters and hit the other — deGrom allowed three hits to the Daytona Tortugas, including one that almost left the yard.
After a 1-2-3 first inning that included two strikeouts, Austin Callahan touched the two-time Cy Young Award winner for a one-out double off the top of the right-centerfield wall in the second. DeGrom ended that inning by fanning Yassel Pino on a 100-mph fastball.
DeGrom hit 101 on the gun in the first inning. Pitching about 30 minutes from his DeLand, Florida, home, he struck out the first two batters in the third before allowing back-to-back singles. He ended his outing by striking out Jamal O’Guinn on a 99-mph fastball.
“Felt really good,” deGrom said in comments posted on SNY’s website. “Coming off the first time in a game after a five-day routine felt really good and I’m happy to get three complete innings. I feel really good. It’s step-by-step, but I’ve been following the process how it was laid out . . . Pitching my first game in a couple of months and responded really well and was able to go out there and throw three innings tonight, so hopefully keep moving forward like this and be back in the big leagues before too long.”
The Mets hope to get deGrom back by the end of the month.
“Not many guys have this injury as far as the stress reaction in the scapula, so it’s been a process,” deGrom said, according to SNY. “I felt good in spring and then it popped up out of nowhere. Trust the process, not do too much, because I definitely don’t want any setbacks.”
Before the appearance, manager Buck Showalter was asked about the possibility of Mets fans “dual-streaming” the deGrom game and the Mets’ home game against Miami.
“Dual what?” Showalter said. “I have no idea what that means. Sounds painful. Is it painful?”
Showalter said he wasn’t sitting on pins and needles waiting to find out what happened in deGrom’s outing.
“No, because if I think about it too much . . . there are no givens,” he said. “Max [Scherzer] came back and pitched well. We lost the game because we didn’t score enough runs, or score any. So that’s just one part of the puzzle . . . a part that pitches every fifth or sixth day [who] has a really good track record of being good. We really look forward to having him back not only as a pitcher but as a part of a team.
He added, “I won’t know what’s going on in Daytona. The Tortugas? Is that right? The Daytona Tortugas. But I’m sure somebody will double-stream it.”
McNeil on call
Jeff McNeil, who started at second base, should be the latest Mets player to leave the team soon for the birth of a baby, Showalter said. He added, “Another cigar for Buck, I hope.”
Mets starless for now
No Mets were elected to start for the National League in the July 19 All-Star Game. Starters were revealed on Friday night. Pete Alonso finished second to Paul Goldschmidt at first base and Starling Marte was fourth among outfielders. Reserves will be announced on Sunday.
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.
