Jake sharp in rehab outing, close to return
CHICAGO — Jacob deGrom extended to pitch four innings Thursday night, perhaps the last action he will see in a minor league uniform before rejoining the Mets.
The ace right-hander allowed an unearned run over four innings and 42 pitches for Triple-A Syracuse against Jacksonville. DeGrom hit 100 mph on the radar gun three times, finishing with two hits allowed and one walk with four strikeouts.
“I felt a little out of whack the first couple of innings, but then I made an adjustment,” deGrom told reporters in Syracuse. “I wasn’t locating my fastball quite like I wanted to early on, but over the last couple of innings felt a lot better.”
DeGrom’s previous two rehab starts in his comeback from a stress reaction on his right scapula came for Single-A St. Lucie. He last pitched in a regular-season game for the Mets on July 7, 2021.
Mets officials tentatively plan to have deGrom pitch in a simulated game next week (the minor league affiliates are dark during the All-Star break) and could insert him into the rotation thereafter. If deGrom remains on schedule, he would likely pitch July 24 against the Padres or two days later in the Subway Series. Mets officials have not ruled out the idea of an additional minor league rehab start for deGrom if they feel it’s warranted.
DeGrom said “trusting the process” has been an important part of his rehab.
“It was pretty thorough in reaching different thresholds of throwing before I even stepped on the mound,” deGrom said. “Everything was on a radar gun as far as each day you are going to throw this hard and no harder than that. So it was very thorough and step by step. I had to trust the process and try not to do too much, because if I did it again, I was out for the rest of this year.”
DeGrom’s night included the Mets’ top prospect, catcher Francisco Alvarez, receiving his pitches.
“He did a good job,” deGrom said. “He came up to me before the game, asked kind of what I wanted to do and was a nice target.”