New York Mets starter Jacob deGrom is about to return from the injured list, as manager Luis Rojas stated that he will take the hill on Tuesday against the Colorado Rockies.
Jacob deGrom will start Tuesday against the Rockies, Luis Rojas said.
— Tim Healey (@timbhealey) May 23, 2021
The two-time Cy Young Award winner hasn’t pitched for the Mets since May 9, when he was forced to leave his start with tightness in his right side.
In total, if deGrom ends up taking the mound on Tuesday, he would have missed 16 days with his injury, which wasn’t deemed major at the time.
Some people may think that’s too much time to miss with side tightness, while others may believe they didn’t give him enough rest.
The fact remains that the Mets should always be extra cautious when the words ‘deGrom’ and ‘injury’ happen to be mentioned in the same sentence.
It is not that deGrom is particularly injury-prone: that isn’t the case.
It’s just that the Mets’ World Series hopes rest heavily in his right arm.
Jacob deGrom’s final line for Low-A St. Lucie tonight: 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 8 K.
He threw 41 pitches.
— Tim Healey (@timbhealey) May 20, 2021
The Mets Need Him in One Piece for October
Since 2018, deGrom has been arguably the best pitcher in MLB.
He won the Cy Young Award in 2018 (1.70 ERA in 217 innings) and 2019 (2.43 ERA in 204 frames), and had a great case to repeat in 2020.
He is, by far, the best pitcher in the Mets rotation, and the team, with the talent it has, can afford to make a postseason run while managing deGrom’s workload in such a way that he can get to October in his best form.
For the Mets, it would be an incredible competitive advantage to throw deGrom out there for two starts in a seven-game series.
If they need it, the Mets can entertain the possibility of using him more than the average starter in postseason series, like the Arizona Diamondbacks did with Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling in 2001, or the San Francisco Giants with Madison Bumgarner in the first half of last decade.
But to do that, deGrom needs to get to October in one piece, and the Mets know that.
In the regular season, they need to remain extra cautious with their star right-hander.
The Mets Can Survive Two Weeks Without Him, But Not a Playoff Series
The Mets are good and deep enough to survive two or three weeks without deGrom, so if he suffers the slightest of injuries, he should go to the injured list.
The fact that they are in first place of the National League East division while being without deGrom for two full weeks, with a 21-19 record, is evidence of that.
However, they need him healthy and dealing for the postseason, if they make it that far (there is no reason to think they can’t).
deGrom represents that competitive advantage for the Mets against teams like the San Diego Padres or Atlanta Braves.
And the Mets would hardly have a chance to beat a team like the Los Angeles Dodgers in a best-of-seven series without deGrom, so they know they can’t overuse him in the season’s first six months.
Right now, deGrom is showing once again why he is considered the greatest pitcher in baseball, with a 0.68 ERA in 40 frames.
He has allowed only 17 hits in those 40 innings.
Expect to see an injured-list stint for deGrom when you see “soreness” or “tightness” in the report.
But that is just fine.
In fact, that’s what the Mets should do.
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