MAY 11: The Mets have officially placed deGrom on the IL and recalled righty Sean Reid-Foley, Mike Puma of the New York Post tweets.
MAY 10: The Mets will place star right-hander Jacob deGrom on the 10-day injured list due to right side tightness, the team announced. The placement will become official prior to tomorrow’s game with the Orioles, and the placement will be retroactive to May 10.
The news wasn’t a surprise considering that deGrom made an early exit from yesterday’s start, though an MRI didn’t reveal any structural damage. Naturally, the Mets want to be as cautious as possible with the ace of their staff, especially since deGrom had been scratched from a previous start last Tuesday due to inflammation in his right lat. Though it doesn’t appear as if deGrom’s injury is all that serious, getting at least 10 days off to rest and rehab is probably a wise move considering his outsized importance to New York’s rotation.
Since the Mets are off today, Thursday, and on May 20, it’s possible deGrom might only miss one start during his absence. A return to the hill for May 21 against the Marlins certainly seems feasible if deGrom makes a quick recovery. As MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo notes, it isn’t uncommon for deGrom to miss a start or two per season due to a minor injury, though this will mark the first time deGrom has actually been placed on the IL since 2019. DeGrom has hit the big league IL four times in his career, returning each time in relatively short order.
DeGrom is in the midst of yet another spectacular season, with an 0.68 ERA/1.65 SIERA and (this is somehow not a typo) 567 ERA+ through 40 innings. His 46.1% strikeout percentage leads all starting pitchers, and he also leads the majors in K/9 (14.6), hits/9 (3.8), WHIP (0.60) and FIP (1.03), not to mention high-90th percentile spots in several Statcast categories.
Ugh. He’s been nothing but lights out. This is gonna hurt.
He’s only gonna miss one start, and the rest of the rotation has been excellent… It’s not a huge loss unless it turns into a long term thing
That’s what I’m afraid of – does it turn into something long term because he comes back too early.
Sure, easy for you to say, but you missing the most important stuff.
I have like 9 other pitchers on two separate fantasy teams that he has to carry on his back. That’s how he hurt himself in the first place.
More seriously, I always wanted the RS to put Pedro on the DL for 15 days, immediately after his last start before the ASG. You wouldn’t miss many starts and it’s almost like a reset button for him.
Walker and Stroman have been excellent. Peterson and Lucchesi not so much.
The Mets have two off days coming up in the next 7 days so he should only miss one start. Best time to do this for him. He’ll come back stronger than ever!
Trade him. The next Harvey….
lol
Harvey wishes he was half as dominant as deGrom is, even in his (Harvey) prime.
This is either good bait or the worst take ever posted on this site.
Is the most successful troll the one you can’t tell is actually trolling? Kirk’s comment kind of brought me to this question. I don’t know how to respond to this either. If it were serious I would say that despite a hiccup or two, it still looks like a minor issue. Imagine trading baseballs best pitcher for such a silly reason. Mets fans would be justified in storming Cohen’s office and burning the entire building to the ground.
Guys that throw as hard as he does simply aren’t capable of making 30-35 starts for a sustainable period of time. Verlander did it for a while but then fell off and had to kinda re-invent himself. Who else threw 100mph+ and maintained it without injury?
Nolan Ryan?
Randy Johnson?
I don’t fully disagree with what @downsr30 is saying, but Ryan and Johnson are really more of outliers. The overall trend of injuries does have to do some with throwing as hard as guys are now, but it’s likely more because they are starting at such a young age, playing all year around, throwing harder, but also throwing more breaking and off speed pitches. Throwing hard is just one of the multiple reasons why there are so many injuries anymore.
I dont disagree with you completely Mlb1225 but there will always be outliers and maybe DeGrom is one.
In the end, while throwing hard puts a tax on the body i think it all starts in the weight room. You are seeing even position players get more and more injuries because they are being all muscle no fat. Look at the crazy amount of time guys like Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge spend on the IL damn near EVERY year. Its because one false motion and their body’s cant compensate and you get tears instead of maybe a strain or just the body absorbing it.
I think it’s one thing if you’re 6’10 and effortlessly throwing upper 90’s, but most of these guys are max effort pitchers, and with that you get more velocity and more walks… DeGrom has studied his mechanics and has figured out how to get the most out of his body. I think if you’re talking about a guy in a relief role, it could be sustainable, but you’re talking about a guy throwing 100+ pitches every 5 days for 6 months, and it’s not like he’s just lounging around in the off-season either or even on his off days for that matter.
I’m 31 years old, own several gyms and would consider myself in pretty good shape – I’m no Jacob DeGrom, and I’m not a CrossFit guy, but for the sake of comparison, imagine a guy in his early 30’s doing 100+ clean and snatches or dead lifts every 5th day and maximum effort. What’s going to happen? Eventually he’s probably going to get hurt.
Level it back a bit and let’s say you’re only doing 20-30 reps every 2-3 days, less likely to get hurt (relievers).
Or if you’re a guy like Kyle Hendricks pitching at 85-90% max effort and a more delicate approach, less likely (but not invincible) to get injured.
I know lifting weights and pitching are two different things, but doing anything at max effort 100+ times in one day isn’t going to bode well for a guy in his 30s.
Who says Hendricks is throwing with less effort? What if deGrom’s actual max effort is 105 and 98 is only 90%.
Since you brought up clean, snatch, and deadlift, and seem to know what you are talking about, then I think that it is fair to point out that in almost every case I’ve seen of an injury from these lifts are due to improper mechanics or doing a weight they can’t do, not fatigue due to effort.
I’m not sure how much of an outlier those two really are, @1225.
Guidry was a hard thrower & he was a little guy. Carlton had a long career as a power pitcher. Supposedly, Walter Johnson threw as hard as anyone. Hell, Sabathia was a power pitcher who won 250 games.
Only point I am trying to make is that throwing hard hasn’t always been correlated with arm injuries. & there are a lot of pitchers who threw hard & had long – more or less – healthy careers.
I’m doing work stuff so I just grabbed those names off the top of my head. But I bet I could come up with 10 more guys if I put the effort in.
Comparing guys from decades and millennials ago isn’t a good way to go about it. The sensitivity to overuse and injuries these days is far different due to the financial component attached to these guys. Sabathia was a power pitcher for a while, but look at him when he was deGrom’s age (32). He went downhill in a hurry.
Randy Johnson is probably the best comparison from the past 20 years and with the steroid era, him being 6’10, he’s an outlier in general.
#legalizePED’sbro
downsr30:
Well, Tim Lincecum was also a guy that studied mechanics, and got the most out of his body. I realize that’s not a great comparison given that deGrom is 6′-4″ and Lincecum was 5′-11″. so it may work out for deGrom. But, getting the most of of his body through mechanics certainly didn’t work for Lincecum over the long haul.
Hey Ducky:
I would like to point out that Randy Johnson was a max effort guy early in his career, but had little control over where the ball went. 1990-92 were his age 26, 27, and 28 seasons. He walked 418 batters over that span, an average of 139+. His ERA+ was only 105.
By 1994, his age 30 seas0n, he was taking a little off the FB for better control. Over the next 11 years he averaged only 62 walks, and increased his ERA+ to 170.
Some guys just have a natural ability that most guys don’t. Plus Johnson knew how to use his 6′-10″ frame better than most. Over that 11 years span, ’94 to ’04, which included his age 40 season he averaged 276 SOs per season. It’s a very short list of guys that can take a little off the FB and get those kind of results.
Hey, good evening, @tad.
Gotta start with:
How about those first place (baseball) Giants?
Now I really don’t pay much attention to records until the 50 game mark.
That’s when I first take a real look at the standings & leader board.
But no matter what the sport, & no matter when in the season, I’d always rather be in first.
If you’re looking for someone to disagree with your take, you’ve the wrong poster. We will probably never see a pitcher like Johnson again. Just seeing those numbers brought back how good he was.
& how wild.
Guy showed up in Big Games too.
Helping set the stage – for example – a little blooper off Rivera.
The one thing I’d point out is the original post referred to “hard throwers” only to later morph into “max effort”. So…as anomalous as Randy Johnson indeed was, I still say he’s a good example of a “guys that throw as hard as he does…for a sustainable period of time.”
This doesn’t seem accurate. There have been plenty of examples of hard throwers having non injured careers.
In the past 10-20 years? Not so much. It’s a dangerous game these days with teams being so careful with the hundreds of millions of $ invested and players not being able to “push through” the way a Koufax or Nolan Ryan might have.
joeyrocafella:
Sorry, not that you’re wrong, but your post is useless. If there are “…plenty of examples of hard throwers…” then tell us who they are. Nobody is going to simply take your word for what your perception is.
its not like they win the games he starts anyways…dude gets a total of 0 runs of support a game
That is a lie, he run supports himself 🙂 I dont think i have ever seen the only games won by a pitcher are games he has scored runs in himself.
Great argument for not adopting the DH, NL.
No, it isn’t. deGrom has been one of the better hitters in the lineup when he’s pitched. A Mets DH in his starts would probably just go 0-4 with 3 Ks.
edit: lol, I think I misread your comment but will leave my response up, anyway!
I prefer the way it is in the NFL now, but your answer could be justified if you had the option to use your pitcher instead of a DH. Ohtani does both. DeGrom could continue to hit when he’s scheduled to pitch or even when he’s not. 😉 He could be a full-time DH! If the NL were to implement the DH, would he be able to remain in the game as a DH even if they went to the bullpen? It brings up other scenarios. If he were to continue in the game as a DH, technically, he could return to the mound later since he never officially left the game. I’m sure they probably set up rules against that, but I do recall a game in garbage time where a pitcher and an outfielder would swap positions for different batters.
If they plan to do it, there is a way to bring someone who’s not on the 40-man from the alternate site or outside the organization to take his spot on active roster. Seth Lugo is scheduled to come back at the end of May, so he could be moved to the 60-day retroactive to the start of the season.
First of all, thank you Mark for including K/9, hits/9 and WHIP. It helps paint the picture.
Regarding deGrom, hope he is back in 10 days and feeling good. The Mets, and MLB, need him. I’m a little fearful in that he missed a start already and now cut Sundays start short before heading to the IL… fingers crossed.
the placement will be retroactive to May 10
======================================================
Pure pedantics on my part, but I was amused that they placing him on the IL retroactive to today.
Because they’re doing it tomorrow. Yeah, it could have been worded differently but they couldn’t say “today” in an article that will be read in the future.
Yeah, thanks for explaining that. I didn’t get it, either.
Hands down deGrom is the best pitcher in the game today.
Agreed. He’s really dominant.
I thought for a moment about what it would mean if we took your statement literally (my brain is different), which led me to a question: who is the best non-overhand-throwing pitcher in the game today?
MWeller, this doesn’t answer your question, but the best non overhand pitcher is Rachel Garcia of UCLA. Look for her and the Bruins to repeat as NCAA softball national champs later this month in OKC.
His 3 wins were against Colorado, Washington and Arizona. The guy is a BEAST!!! He lost to a couple Cy Young candidates in Trevor Rogers and that Miami Juggernaut and the mighty Red Sox, Nick Pivetta.
While I love my boy Rogers, DeGrom lost that game giving up a solo HR to Jazz… And I think that’s it.
It seems a couple losses of his a season lately come from the Marlins. Yet he tends to always get 10K+ and pitch at least 6 innings. I know he’s lost to the Marlins at least 3 times giving up one run. It’s insane. Thankfully the writers no longer look at W/L records for voting.
And a full season and facing the entire league (or just facing the entire league in the small season) DeGrom wins another Cy in 2020.
@ludafish
It seems that our Marlins have figured out how to beat the Mets on days that deGrom pitches…no matter how well he pitches against them.
Pablo Lopez – 0-2, 2.04 ERA 40 Ks
Sandy Alcantara – 1-1, 2.72 ERA, 48 Ks
Trevor Rogers – 4-2, 1.89 ERA, 50Ks
Wow the Marlins light it up with run support. Dude you said Nimmo is a 4th outfielder on the Marlins. Go away troll
Nimmo is a 4th OF on the Marlins. Who would he start over?
Let me guess…you only want to see his hot start and talk now, but will be silent when he dwindles down to his regular numbers (like he was already doing prior to his injury). Are you also counting down the Mets Magic Number now in May?
Bash the Marlins all you want. How’d your Mets look against them? Did you give the game ball to Ron Kulpa?
MarlinsFan: for once try using actual stats to make your case. I say he starts over all of them. He has a higher WAR than any of them, and only Marte has a higher OPS+. (Although, career-wise, Nimmo blows Marte away, this is statistically fact) You have this obsession with undervaluing Nimmo yet the only “evidence” you’ve ever presented is the fact that you used to play baseball. Which is a fallacy cuz most of us, myself included, have played baseball. Try making your case with actual facts, especially since your opinion goes against the opinion of every paid analyst and expert, yet you still repeat your opinion without ever backing it up.
WAR is a garbage stat, especially when you use it as one of the few or your only case.
Here are facts.
Nimmo sucks on defense. I know you all try to say he’s out of position, but anyone that actually has played past rec league can see that he doesn’t run his routes correctly, even in LF when he’s been there. And that’s before I mention his arm.
He’s a bad baserunner. I don’t think there’s any debating this. For a guy whose only claim to fame is OBP, he should at least run the bases at a decent level, but he doesn’t. So, there’s very little value when he gets on base to clog them into a base-to-base scenario, waiting on hits from teammates or multiple walks. Want to know why the Mets struggle on offense despite having so many guys who are individually solid offensive players? Start with your leadoff hitter’s inability to run the bases well or help the team manufacture runs.
When he swings the bat, he is mediocre at best. I don’t even think this is really debatable even by you and the rest of your stat crew that often like to dismiss batting average when it is convenient for your arguments.
That’s my backup. Anyone that has played beyond rec league can easily see these so I don’t understand how this is debatable. The guy sucks at the MLB level in mostly everything he does. His only weapon is keeping his bat glued to his shoulder. You guys talk like the guy is an All Star when he’s not even a good player. He’s just another player with his own set of flaws, who only is hyped because he plays in NY. Put him in a small market and none of you that talk him up would know who he is and certainly would point out all the flaws I mention – if you all would even pay attention long enough to see those flaws when he’s doing them as a Pirate or Royal. The fact that you Mets fans see this guy everyday, but can’t see his flaws, just shows how little baseball experience you all have or how blinded you all are by homerism because I’m sorry, but anyone that played high school and above can see all of his flaws.
Also, I’m sorry, but I’ve always had the opinion that when you can’t see how good a guy is from basic observation or even basic stats, he’s really not that good in the first place. This game is played on the field by real human beings – not on a video game or a database. I’m not watching games with an Excel spreadsheet next to me. I’m watching the swings, the baserunning, the defense, the pitching, the fundamentals, etc. etc. etc. on the field. And I’m seeing who’s winning or losing the games based on watching the action on the field. With you stat guys, you can watch one team win and can twist stats to convince yourselves that the team that won the game didn’t really win, and the teams that are winning aren’t really better than the teams that are losing – especially when it’s your favorite team that is losing. And you know this is true.
And Nimmo wouldn’t start over Marte, Dickerson or Duvall. That’s your Mets loyalty speaking to that.
Nimmo’s flaws would not work on our team. We play small ball. We run well. We defend well. We hit when we need runs late in games (usually with 2 outs in an inning). Nimmo does none of these.
Better than bob gibson. That’s all Ik.
You’re an idiot.
No. Just no.
You obviously weren’t around to see Bob Gibson pitch. I admit that I was very young, but even in the last few seasons before the end nobody, and I mean nobody could dominate like Gibson.
deGrom is incredible, and probably the best pitcher in baseball right now, but until he achieves the longevity and continued domination that Gibson did, I for one deny his place above Gibson.
I’ve been a Mets fan for 5 different decades now and deGrom in my opinion, ranks 3rd amongst Mets developed pitchers following Tom Seaver and Nolan Ryan. He does, in my opinion out-strip any other Mets product, including Doc Gooden, Jerry Koosman and anyone else our beloved boys in blue and orange have ever had.
Sorry to get on my soapbox I do appreciate your love of our Mets, and the stars you love, but you often come across as woefully uninformed and you tend to make some outrageous claims. This latest one just makes us Mets fans look ridiculous. Please put more thought, facts and figures into your posts and less blind emotional support of our team into your posts and you will be much better received on these boards.
Gotta disagree on Nolan Ryan being better than DeGrom; especially if we are talking Mets days. Nolan wasn’t even that good in NY
Ryan might be the most overrated pitcher in baseball history. His career ERA+ was only 112, with a .526 winning %, and never won the CY. Had he retired at the age of 35, I’m not sure he’d have made the HOF (205 wins and 112 ERA+ at that point). It’s only his incredible longevity that made him a HOF.
Ryan is overrated in my opinion. He’s a Hall of Famer for sure, but the legend has grown out of control. I remember when he was on the Angels and Tanana was considered a better pitcher than him.
On the Astros they had Niekro, Sutton, Knepper and Scott. That was a very solid rotation.
He never won a Cy Young. Didn’t know that.
Man.
deGrom isn’t even the best pitcher in NYC!
& Gerrit Cole – as good as he is – absolutely doesn’t even belong in the same sentence as Gibson.
Good gravy, lad.
Sure…go ahead. Tell your Francisco Lindor action figure all your heart’s little problems now.
Are you actually trying to say Cole is better than deGrom?
@Ducky buckin fent
I usually agree with most things you say and I have great respect for you but I’m going to have to disagree, deGrom is better than Cole in my opinion.
shhhhhhhhhh…be vewy, vewy quiet. I’m hunting wabbits.
Best pitcher in the game right now? The guys that have done it for years… Kershaw… Scherzer… deGrom… Cole…
Hard to choose. A good case could be made for Bauer, Bieber, Darvish, Means… and then guys that are having breakout years like Woodruff, Duffy, Rogers, Ynoa… it’s a tough choice.
In Bob Gibson’s MVP season, he was only 5-4 against teams that finished over .500. Should we take his MVP away?
My point isn’t to take anything away from Gibson (who is rightfully considered one of the greats of his era) but to point out how silly this comment is. Great pitchers naturally own teams that aren’t especially good, and no pitcher should be defined solely (or even primarily) by wins and losses anyway . If you look at the teams that have been the best in the game over the course of DeGrom’s career, he has strong overall numbers against them.
I grew up a fan of Koufax, Gibson and Marichal. So despite solid statistical support to the contrary, I’m partial to them over many of todays stars.
Its tough for current pitchers to compete with “memories” of childhood stars from yesteryear. I suspect that kids who grow up fans of deGrom, Cole, Kershaw, etc will think they are the best pitchers 30 years from now despite evidence to the contrary… and 110 MPH fastballs.
D’accord.
No Yankee pitcher will ever be as good as I “remember” Guidry being.
These guys are damaged long before they get to this point. Year round travel ball, overthrowing, poor mechanics, and poor coaching cause the damage at a young age. It’s not as though they’re pristine packages when reaching the MLB and then suddenly get ground into dust.
I don’t disagree in general. However degrom was an infielder into the end of his sophomore year of college. He turned down a summer league because they wanted him to pitch. He probably has less mileage than others. I think I’ve read that Cole didn’t do all the summer leagues as a kid because he wanted to save his arm.
Anyone think @MetsFan22 have any more predictions in him?
Of course he does. Anyone think he cares that his predictions seem to backfire? Nope!
Seriously, when he made his statement about deGrom, could anyone really be surprised by this result?
@Marlinsfanbase, @Metsfan22 is at least passionate about the team he follows, which I can certainly appreciate. Right now his problem is that this is the only thing he has going for him – his passion. He needs to be more reasoning and thoughtful in his commenting and tone down the emotive content of his responses. Unfortunately that kind of maturity only seems to come with age (excepting rare occurrences).
He seems to be a good kid, but he sure does make is fellow Mets fans look bad by association… *sigh*. I love my Mets but I at least can see the flaws of the team as well as the good parts. Damn I feel old now…
He is an overzealous fan of his team. You on the other hand though Brandon Nimmo is a 4th outfielder on the Marlins and believe that short season playoff berth means the Marlins are relevant, Here is a prediction for you. They aren’t bruh
I don’t have a strong opinion on who wins the NL East. Nor do I follow the Marlins closely. But I have seen the them play the D-backs four games and the Marlins pitching staff is legit. I would hate to see them in a one game WC or a five game playoff series.
de Grom is the best pitcher in the game, the Mets will treat him with kid gloves. Pitching is outlier, so nobody knows what the outcome will be!
3.8 hits/9
Good god
That would be a huge blow for the Mets pitching staff if DeGrom has to be out for a long time. That mean their offense needs to step up big time.