Mets scratch Max Scherzer with tight hammy
New York Mets' Max Scherzer flips the ball around in the second inning of a spring game against the Miami Marlins on March 21, 2022. Credit: AP/Sue Ogrocki
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — And now the Mets’ other ace is injured.
A day after learning they would be without Jacob deGrom for a significant chunk of time to start the season, the Mets scratched Max Scherzer from his scheduled start in a scrimmage against minor-leaguers Saturday because of a tight right hamstring, he said.
He called the discomfort “a little hiccup” and called himself day-to-day. Neither he nor manager Buck Showalter know if he will be ready for Opening Day, which is Thursday, or that first turn through the rotation.
“It’s tough to sit here and say absolutely yes or absolutely no,” Scherzer said. “For me, it’s just a day-to-day thing. That’s how these things have presented themselves in the past, that’s how we’ve treated them in the past. You do the rehab, and most likely you get back out there pretty quick. So that’s how the history of these little hiccups on my leg work. I’m hoping that it’s the same thing.
“But you’re dealing with hammies. You never know. But the good news is I’m still able to play catch. It’s not stopping me from playing catch, and I can still get throw the baseball and get on it pretty good. So the likelihood of me being able to pitch around this or pitch through it is a pretty good chance because it’s not showing itself in the throwing mechanics.”
This tightness, the latest in a years-long series of hamstring issues for Scherzer, popped up on Thursday during his routine running. He felt as if he had been getting better in the ensuing 48 hours, he said, but it got worse again Saturday morning when he was warming up for what was supposed to be a seven-inning final tuneup before the regular season.
“At that point in time, your hamstring’s tight, you can’t go forward in a sim[ulated] game at 10:30 in the morning at spring training,” he said. “Shut down and get treatment.”
Pitching Saturday would have lined him up to face the Nationals — his former team — in the season opener on regular rest.
Without deGrom and perhaps without Scherzer, Showalter declined to name an Opening Day starter. Scherzer said it was “too soon to even talk about” his availability. Showalter added that the Mets will consider a bullpen game — using a series of relievers — instead of a traditional starting pitcher.
The Mets carefully arranged for Chris Bassitt, Carlos Carrasco and Taijuan Walker to start the third, fourth and fifth games of the season, and the schedule might stay that way. Bassitt still is set to pitch against the Marlins on Sunday.
“I’m not going to put the whole thing in disarray for one spot or even two spots,” Showalter said.
Showalter also left open the possibility that Scherzer will jump straight into real games without another exhibition/scrimmage appearance.
“I’d be OK with that,” Showalter said. “You’re talking about a guy that has done a lot of work coming in here. I think he’s built up more volume than most people.”
Scherzer said: “That’s where you’ll just have the conversations with people above you. I’ve been up to 90 pitches, my arm feels great. I definitely have that working for me. As far as what you want to do moving forward, how you want to progress with this, it’s all dictated on how well the hamstring feels. I’m not worried about this in the long term, but it’s something you’ve got to deal with right now.”
How confident is Scherzer in the rest of the rotation without deGrom and perhaps him? The starting five would be down to three regulars — Bassitt, Carrasco, Walker — and two fill-ins from a group that includes Tylor Megill, David Peterson and Trevor Williams.
“I don’t know. We’ll see,” Scherzer said. “That has nothing to do with what I can and can’t do. I’ll be out there as soon as I can.”
DeGrom was shut down for four weeks Friday after being diagnosed with a stress reaction in his right shoulder blade.
That left the Mets without a pitcher who is widely considered the best in baseball, albeit one who hasn’t pitched since July 7. And now they might be without his co-ace, Scherzer, who is on the short list for best pitcher of his generation.
“Just talking to him, he thought it was kind of minor,” Scherzer said of deGrom. “Turns out it’s a little bit more than minor for him to be shut down like that, a few weeks now of no throwing. You gotta address that.
“For him, it’s try to figure out this injury. Figure out exactly what this is and attack it with everything you got.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
