The New York Mets already know how long Max Scherzer will be out.
The right-hander took himself out during Wednesday’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals after feeling some left side discomfort.
He was preliminary diagnosed with an oblique injury, but the degree of the ailment was going to be determined by an MRI.
The ace underwent the MRI on Thursday morning, and the results are out.
“UPDATE ON MAX SCHERZER: Max’s images showed a moderate to high grade internal oblique strain. A general timeline for an injury of this nature is 6-8 weeks,” the Mets’ Twitter account said on Thursday afternoon.
UPDATE ON MAX SCHERZER
Max’s images showed a moderate to high grade internal oblique strain. A general timeline for an injury of this nature is 6-8 weeks.
— New York Mets (@Mets) May 19, 2022
Well, there you go: the Mets will be without their two best pitchers, Jacob deGrom and Scherzer, at least until July.
Scherzer will now be placed on the injured list (the 15-day list is an option, but so is the 60-day list depending on what the Mets do) and will need to rest and rehab that injury.
Who Will Return First, deGrom Or Scherzer?
Now, it’s not clear which pitching star will return to New York first.
deGrom is already over his stress reaction in his right scapula, but needs to have a full, spring training-like ramp up process that may delay his return until July.
Even with that being the situation, there is a decent chance he can beat Scherzer to New York.
The 37-year-old Scherzer was pitching like an ace in his first season in Queens, with a 5-1 record, a 2.54 ERA, a 0.95 WHIP, and a 59/11 K/BB ratio through 49-2 innings of work.
The Mets’ rotation will now need to survive without their two best pitchers: Chris Bassitt, Carlos Carrasco, Tylor Megill, David Peterson, Taijuan Walker, and even Trevor Williams will now need to step up their game.
NEXT: MLB Insider Notes One Positive Regarding Max Scherzer's Injury