The New York Mets are in trouble.
After once leading the NL East by 10.5 games over the defending champion Atlanta Braves, they have fallen into a first-place tie with their division rivals.
And this morning, the Mets got some bad news on their ace, Max Scherzer.
Scherzer is dealing with left side fatigue and the Mets chose to place him on the 15-Day Injured List retroactive to Sunday.
Scherzer has already missed some time this season with side issues.
In a start against the St. Louis Cardinals in May, he strained his left oblique while pitching to Albert Pujols, which took him out for roughly two months.
News: Max Scherzer is going on the injured list. He won't start Friday.
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) September 7, 2022
Scherzer To The IL
This is not good news for the Mets, who are locked in a dead-even competition with the Braves, especially given Scherzer’s history with his left side this year.
While the popular consensus is that he’ll only miss two starts and be back in time for a start on September 19, this is the same injury that cost him time earlier this season, and that could end up being the case yet again.
Scherzer, when healthy, has been every bit as good as advertised, going 9-4 with a 2.26 ERA.
He signed a three-year, $130 million contract prior to the lockout last offseason.
It hasn’t been too long since Jacob deGrom returned from the injured list, which means that once again, the Mets will be without one of their two aces.
Any time without Scherzer is a big blow for the Mets, and it gives the Braves a huge advantage as they look to wrestle the division title away from New York.
We’ll see how long it takes Scherzer to recover.
Though the prediction is that it won’t take too long, it might end up being worse than expected given his history with that left side.
NEXT: Edwin Diaz Makes A Thrilling Commitment For 2023