Jake and Max both throw again, inch closer to returns
Jacob deGrom has thrown three live batting practice sessions in the past eight days as his ramp-up continues to intensify.
DeGrom’s latest live BP was 27 pitches. Mets manager Buck Showalter was amazed that he could watch the session, live, from the confines of Citi Field. The skipper and other team officials pulled up the video on a large computer screen on Wednesday morning.
Showalter was mum about what deGrom’s next step will be, but he indicated a rehab start is close.
Also yesterday, Max Scherzer — working his way back from an oblique strain — threw 4.2 innings and 80 pitches in his second rehab start for Double-A Binghamton. He threw a 10-pitch first inning, labored a bit in the fourth and came back out for the fifth. Scherzer gave up two earned runs on four hits, walked one, and struck out eight.
The Mets have a set schedule for deGrom, one they’ve been following to a tee throughout his rehab journey, but they’re unwilling to release that plan to the public.
“Don’t want to be on double-secret probation,” said Showalter, keeping up the team’s narrative that anything deGrom accomplishes in his rehab is treated as a state secret.
DeGrom has not pitched in a major-league game since July 7, 2021. He sustained a stress reaction on his right scapula a couple of weeks into spring training.
Fans are not-so-patiently waiting to see the co-aces pitch together in the same rotation. But in all likelihood, they will have to wait until after the AllStar break to watch deGrom and Scherzer leading the starting five.
Showalter, upon watching the live video of deGrom pitching at St. Lucie, was encouraged by deGrom’s “facial expressions” as the ace did what he does best.
“You can tell he’s upbeat about where he is,” Showalter said. “The body language more than anything. I wish I’d seen him more up close and personal. But he looks like what you’d expect, a guy getting closer.”