New York Mets‘ pitching stars Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom remain sidelined as of Monday afternoon.
Scherzer, however, is firmly determined to come back within the next week.
In fact, he is believed to be an option for Sunday’s game against the Miami Marlins.
He suffered a rather significant oblique strain in mid-May, and was given a six-to-eight-week timeframe.
He will beat that, barring any re-aggravations.
Scherzer faced hitters last Thursday in a three-inning simulated game and will make a rehab start for the Mets’ Double-A affiliate on Tuesday.
If that goes according to the plan, he could take the ball on Sunday against the fish.
He is already performing his regular between-starts routine.
Here, he is spotted throwing under deGrom’s watch at Citi Field.
Jacob deGrom watches on as Max Scherzer puts in work at Citi Field 👀 pic.twitter.com/KBZBl4Ofi4
— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) June 20, 2022
SNY Mets uploaded that video on Monday.
Scherzer Will Beat deGrom Back By A Considerable Margin
Once considered to be around the same timeline as deGrom, it looks like Scherzer will be in the Mets’ rotation a lot sooner than his fellow ace.
deGrom’s latest news involved a two-inning simulated game on Friday.
He has been out since spring training with a stress reaction on his right scapula, and could be back in early July if everything goes smoothly.
He has been facing live hitters for a while, but will likely need two or three rehab starts (perhaps even four, if the Mets play things safe) because, unlike Scherzer, he hasn’t pitched at all this season.
Mets fans are patiently waiting to see the two aces back in the rotation at the same time: they haven’t had the luxury of watching consecutive starts made by these future Hall of Famers.
NEXT: MLB Insider Reveals When Max Scherzer Could Return