With their victory on Sunday evening against the Los Angeles Angels, the New York Mets completed a stretch of 22 games in 23 days in which they went 14-8. Monday provided a much-needed off day for a team that played 16 of those games in the Mountain and Pacific Time Zones.
Despite winning 14 of those 22 games, the Mets starting pitching has not been up to snuff of late.
Chris Bassitt will take the mound tonight for the Amazins as they open a three-game set with the slumping Milwaukee Brewers.
Bassitt, however, is looking to work out of his own slump. Over his last 7 starts, Bassitt has pitched to a 7.60 ERA, including getting roughed up for six runs in 3.1 innings in his last outing against the San Diego Padres.
Overall, Mets starting pitchers have pitched to an ERA over 5 in the month of June. While the Mets have done well to withstand the season-long absence of Jacob deGrom, losing Max Scherzer has made it all the more difficult.
But could the Mets be on the verge of getting both of their aces back before the end of this month?
Max Scherzer Could Begin Rehab Assignment This Week
Scherzer was seen throwing from his delivery in the Citi Field outfield Tuesday afternoon, according to SNY’s Danny Abriano.
Look who is back at Citi Field ?@Max_Scherzer pic.twitter.com/F0HXeEd6N7
— SNY (@SNYtv) June 14, 2022
Scherzer was removed from his May 21st start vs the St. Louis Cardinals after suffering an apparent injury. MRI’s revealed an oblique strain for the 37-year-old right-hander with an initial diagnosis of a 6-8 week recovery process. Scherzer now appears ready to begin a rehab assignment in the coming days which would put him on pace to return within the shorter end of that timeline.
The three-time Cy Young Award winner has started 8 games this season with a 2.54 ERA over 49.2 innings.
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Jacob deGrom Still In Limbo
For all the good news surrounding Scherzer’s recovery, the news on Jacob deGrom is ambiguous at best.
According to Sports Illustrated’s Pat Ragazzo, Jacob deGrom had begun his mound progression on June 4. deGrom has since thrown multiple bullpen sessions with an eye toward facing live batters soon. However, according to Ragazzo, deGrom has still not been cleared to face live batters, which is the next step in his rehab process.
In a contradictory statement, SNY reports that deGrom could potentially be nearing a rehab assignment after throwing multiple bullpen sessions with live batting practice “expected soon.”
https://twitter.com/genymets/status/1536725244626468864
These may simply be two different spins and ways of wording the same report, but it’s clear the Mets are being very cautious with how they approach deGrom coming off his scapula injury, which has held him out for nearly a full calendar year.
With the toughest part of the Mets schedule behind them, they may be able to ride things out a bit longer without deGrom and Scherzer. But given the recent struggles of their rotation incumbents, fans will be hoping they both return sooner than later.