The New York Mets made the logical decision of shutting down ace Jacob deGrom for the remainder of the season, after the team fell off the race for a playoff spot via the NL East crown or the second Wild Card.
DeGrom hasn’t played in an official MLB game since July 7, when he had to leave his start with right elbow discomfort that was later dubbed as inflammation. However, the team recently admitted that his UCL was partially torn at one point, but that the issue “resolved itself†and surgery was no longer an option at the moment.
The Mets decided to keep deGrom from pitching this year the same day fellow star Noah Syndergaard returned to the mound and looked impressive in an inning of work.
With less than a week remaining in the calendar, and the Mets not playing for anything, they chose not to risk further injury by bringing deGrom to pitch an inning or two before the end of the regular season.
“Everyone is fully on board,†Mets manager Luis Rojas said of the decision, according to MLB.com. “Jake is fully on board. It’s the right thing.â€
“He would be fine to pitch, but there’s no sense to it.â€
Injuries limited the Mets’ star to less than 100 innings
The Mets could only enjoy 92 innings of deGrom this season (in which he put a historic 1.08 ERA), thanks to several injuries that included right lat, side, back, shoulder, forearm issues, and elbow inflammation in mid-July.
The pitcher threw a successful bullpen on Monday, and could have returned in case of emergency. However, he hadn’t faced live hitters and there is really no point in bringing him back.
“He checked all the boxes for it, but we talked today — and with him too, and everyone — and at this point, there’s no point for him to pitch in a game,†Rojas said. “He’s just going to shut it down for the season and focus on his offseason routine. … He was fine to pitch after the side [session] yesterday, but at this point, it just doesn’t make any sense to have him go out there and compete.â€