Degrom eager; skipper cautious
Jacob degrom still plans to pitch on opening day, although New York Mets manager Luis Rojas didn’t sound so sure that will happen.
The two-time Cy Young Award winner said he felt good Thursday, two days after leaving an intrasquad game early because of back tightness. A precautionary MRI came back clean, and degrom thinks he simply might have “slept wrong.”
He hopes to throw Friday and still believes he can get another tuneup of 60-65 pitches — perhaps in Sunday’s exhibition game against the Yankees instead of Saturday — before starting the season opener July 24 versus Atlanta as scheduled. The right-hander said he might only be able to throw about 85 pitches on opening day rather than the 100 or so he was targeting, but his goal remains to take the ball.
Rojas, however, said the team is taking a day-to-day approach as degrom receives treatment and will need to reassess.
More Mets: ESPN says “Sunday Night Baseball” analyst Alex Rodriguez won’t be assigned to cover the team he’s trying to buy. His group remains in a bidding war with others seeking to purchase the team . ... Second baseman Robinson Cano is back with the team after missing a couple of days because of personal issues.
Blue Jays: The Blue Jays have been given clearance by Ontario and Toronto to play regular-season games in Rogers Centre amid the coronavirus pandemic, and await approval from Canada’s federal government.
Cubs: Kyle Hendricks will start on opening day (July 24) against the Milwaukee Brewers, getting the nod over Yu Darvish. Manager David Ross said Darvish will start the second game, but he did not reveal how the rest of his rotation will line up.
Nationals: Middle-of-the-order batters Juan Soto and Howie Kendrick finally joined Washington for “summer camp” and played in an intrasquad scrimmage after missing nearly two weeks of workouts.
Royals: After eight months of chemotherapy to treat colon cancer, left-hander Tim Hill is back on the Kauffman Stadium mound. Hill still remains high-risk for COVID-19. He has a family history of cancer, and he also has Lynch syndrome, a genetic condition associated with a higher risk of colon cancer.