Jacob deGrom Inching Closer to New York Mets Return After Latest Rehab Start
Jacob deGrom's third rehab start is expected to be his final live-game action before rejoining the Mets.
As long as deGrom feels good in the coming days following his rehab latest outing, he will toss around five innings in a sim game in Florida or New York next week during the All-Star break (no minor league games being played next week). The current plan is to then have him return to the big-league rotation between July 24-27 to start against the San Diego Padres or New York Yankees, as a source confirmed to Inside the Mets.
The New York Post was the first to report on this news.
DeGrom made his latest rehab start for Triple A Syracuse in front of a sold out crowd on Thursday night. The two-time Cy Young Award winner went four innings on 42 pitches (29 strikes), allowing one unearned run, while striking out four and walking one batter.
Although deGrom admittedly felt out of whack in the first couple innings, he bounced back to regain command of his fastball in his final few frames of work.
The Mets' ace also reflected on his rehab afterward, which finally appears to be nearing an end.
"This one was pretty thorough of reaching these different thresholds of throwing before I even stepped on that mound," deGrom said of his rehab. "Everything was a lot of radar gun, as far as each day was 'hey you're going to throw this hard, no harder than that.'"
"Step by step approach. I had to really trust the process and try not do too much. If I did it again, then I would be out the rest of this year," he added.
The Mets have been very step by step with their prized arm, who has been out since April 1 after suffering a stress reaction on his right scapula towards the end of spring training.
Regardless of whether the current plan changes in the near future, regarding the Mets' decision to bring him up to the majors after the All-Star break, as opposed to giving him an additional rehab start following next week's sim game, deGrom is getting very close to returning to Queens for the first time since July 7, 2021.
Co-ace Max Scherzer showed why he's a difference maker on Monday night, shutting down the Atlanta Braves across seven innings of one-run ball, in which he struck out nine batters. Once deGrom comes back, they will form a 1-2 punch that will give the Mets a pretty good chance to win on two out of every five days.
On a side note, present also met future, as top prospect catcher Francisco Alvarez caught deGrom in Syracuse on Thursday. Alvarez got the chance to catch Max Scherzer in the righty's rehab start for Double A Binghamton on June 29. The 20-year-old backstop could potentially find himself in the majors down the stretch of the season, but must first accumulate more experience in Triple A.
Read More:
- Could Mark Vientos be Internal Bat Option for Mets Soon?
- Max Scherzer Proving to be 'Difference Maker' for Mets
- Jacob deGrom to Make 3rd Rehab Start for Triple-A Syracuse on Thursday
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