DeGRIM NEWS FOR METS
ACE INJURES PITCHING ELBOW
THERE was nothing dramatic to see, it seemed, nothing to suggest the Mets were being dealt a cruel blow the likes of which have become far too familiar in recent years.
As Todd Frazier said later, “Usually you see something that tells you. I didn’t see anything.”
Only in retrospect, after Jacob deGrom had been replaced to start the fifth inning by Paul Sewald, did anyone notice, via replays on the SNY telecast, that the Mets’ ace had winced a couple of times, signaling a problem that turned out to be what the team is calling a hyperextended right elbow.
The first wince was the result of a swing-and-a-miss at the plate while hitting, as deGrom lunged for a curveball from Braves’ starter Sean Newcomb, and apparently that’s where he incurred the hyperextension.
The second wince came after deGrom delivered a pitch in the top of the fourth inning, his final inning of the night and his last for who knows how long.
None of it was very noticeable unless you were looking for something, and even after the second one deGrom finished off his fourth scoreless inning, extending his scoreless streak to 18 1/3 innings over his last three starts.
But then replays showed deGrom as he walked to the end of the dugout and reached the steps to exit toward the Mets’ clubhouse, putting his glove over his head in a sign of frustration just before disappearing from view.
And with him the feel-good vibe to the Mets’ season, beginning with that 11-1 start, disappeared as well.
Soon enough the upstart Braves, the surprise team of this 2018 season, were beating up on the bullpen, as the life went out of Citi Field, pounding out a 7-0 win that lifted them into first place in the NL East.
Meanwhile, the Mets dropped out of the top spot for the first time since April 4th, prompting an obvious question: Will they ever reclaim first place? You can’t help but wonder, considering they’ve now gone 6-10 since their hot start, and more to the point, how much they’ll miss deGrom. The Mets sent him for an MRI after coming out of the game, leaving the entire organization holding its collective breath on Wednesday night.
“I’m sure I won’t sleep very good,” Mickey Callaway said.
The fact that it’s not an injury usually associated with pitching does give the Mets what Callaway called “a glimmer of hope” that deGrom’s absence could be relatively brief.
Frazier, in fact, said he’s hyperextended his elbow “numerous times,” much the way deGrom did, getting fooled on a pitch and swinging and missing.
“I’ve done it three or four times this season already,” Frazier said. “It affects you for a day or two. But I’m not out there throwing 100 pitches as well, so I don’t know how it’s going to affect him.
“But I hope that’s what he did, hyperextend it, because I think that would be the best outcome. Maybe it just pinched a nerve a little bit. That’s what you do when you hyperextend it — the nerve gets caught in there.
“I can swing the next day but it’s not the same feeling. It takes a couple of days to readjust.”
Suffice it to say the Mets, with their
tortured something knows If deGrom it’s how longer injury of for important a miracle than history, only a that, short if he would they well, is time. to wind consider the everyone up Mets’ losing it season. lowering He his has ERA pitched to 1.87 brilliantly with the so four far, scoreless innings on Wednesday night to go with his 3-0 record.
And perhaps more than any other season since all the young pitching transformed the Mets into contenders, starting in 2015, this is a time when they can least afford to lose deGrom, as he and Noah Syndergaard are the only two starters pitching with any consistent effectiveness.
If Zack Wheeler, Steven Matz, and Jason Vargas, coming off a disastrous first start of the season, can’t raise their level significantly, the Mets almost certainly will fade to mediocrity if deGrom is gone for an extended period.
Indeed, it seemed there was an immediate deflating effect on the Mets in the loss to the Braves, as they went quietly against Newcomb.
“We’re professionals,” as Jay Bruce put it, “but when you see Jake’s out of the game with injury, you try not to speculate but you know how important he is to us.”
In the meantime, the injury might bring on more Matt Harvey drama, if indeed the Mets decide to have him fill deGrom’s spot in the rotation. However, it may have been meaningful that when asked about Harvey, Callaway was quick to mention that he’d consider Corey Oswalt, who has pitched well in the minors.
The best choice actually would be Seth Lugo, but that would only weaken a bullpen that has sprung a lot of leaks lately.
Whomever it is, the truth is the Mets really can’t replace deGrom.
A sleepless night indeed.