Most accounts of the veteran pitcher’s right shoulder injury Jacob deGrom of the New York Mets, focus on his third inning last Wednesday, when he grimaced and shook his arm after a pitch to left-hander Eric Sogard of the Chicago Cubs. But deGrom really thinks he got hurt in the previous post, when took a swing and missed on a fastball by right-hander Robert Stock. When deGrom returned to the mound for the third, his shoulder was not feeling well.
He also didn’t feel completely bad, so deGrom is not on the disabled list. Speaking for the first time since receiving his MRI results Thursday morning, deGrom said Friday that the pain in his shoulder, which knocked him out of his last opening after three innings, was no different than what he normally feels. after the openings. The only difference is that this time, deGrom felt it during an outing:
I feel like if it’s serious you can’t touch it [sin dolor]. It usually hurts after pitching, but not normally during a game. … [Sentirlo] in the middle of the game and after it doesn’t go away, it’s not a normal time to get it. The first two innings, I felt completely fine. I think when I swung, I missed and walked away, made it worse by trying to stop the bat and then I felt it when I was pitching. “
Because the pain felt so familiar to deGrom, he told Mets officials he should be fine to continue his normal pitching schedule between starts. And the Mets saw no reason to stop him after an MRI revealed no structural damage. Both his medical staff and an outside medic agreed that deGrom wasn’t risking much by continuing to pitch.
To that end, deGrom played his usual catching routine Thursday and fired a 10-pitch bullpen the following afternoon (today) at Nationals Park. He intends to launch another heavier bullpen session tomorrow Saturday, with the unspoken intention of opening on Monday if all goes well. Officially, the team is “getting closer to this day by day,” according to Dominican manager Luis Rojas, but the Mets would not allow deGrom to pitch if they had no plans to use him early next week.
Assuming deGrom starts against the Atlanta Braves, a subplot will be if the Mets let him swing. Rojas said earlier this week that the coaching staff might direct him not to swing, as he did with Taijuan Walker in a game earlier this year. deGrom also injured his right lat in May while hitting.
It may interest you: MLB: Jacob deGrom adds other records dating back 101 and 108 years
But deGrom is also one of the game’s top competitors, as well as one of its hitting pitchers, hitting .423 and more RBIs (six) than earned runs allowed (four). When asked if he could refrain from swinging next week, deGrom smiled and said:
You can tell me that. That way, they throw all the fastballs at me. “
.