Mets' Jacob deGrom Cleared To Throw; Syndergaard To Begin Rehab Assignment Thursday

Mets ace Jacob deGrom has finally been cleared to start throwing again.

After his latest MRI came back clean on Wednesday, deGrom was given the green light to play catch, which he was spotted doing at Citi Field earlier this afternoon.

And for deGrom, this is a huge step as it was the first time he has thrown a baseball since getting shutdown on July 30 with right elbow inflammation.

Although the right-hander's previous round of imaging showed improvement, he was advised to rest for an additional two weeks until this morning's round of tests officially showed that he was good to resume baseball activities.

Now, with 37 games left in the regular season, it will be a race against the clock for him to try to make it back this year.

According to manager Luis Rojas, there is no timeline yet of when deGrom can start ramping up, and typically, it can take a starting pitcher close to a month to do so.

DeGrom has not pitched for the Mets since July 7, and the earliest he can return is September 13 after the team shifted him to the 60-day IL. However, acting general manager Zack Scott said deGrom's return is more likely to come after this date.

As Scott also noted, it's important for the Mets to see where deGrom is at before the end of the year.

Regardless, while deGrom getting cleared is a great sign, there are still a ton of hurdles to get over with time ticking down on the season.

Syndergaard

The Mets got more good news regarding Noah Syndergaard, who is set to begin a rehab assignment for High-A Brooklyn on Thursday.

As Rojas went onto note, Syndergaard is scheduled to toss one inning tomorrow. Syndergaard is expected to return to the Mets in early-September as a reliever.

Update On Injured Catchers

Rojas says backup catcher Tomas Nido (thumb) could return from the IL either Friday or Saturday. But starting catcher James McCann (back spasms) is still "a little tight."

McCann is starting to do some rotational movements, but they do not yet have a date for him to return yet. At the moment, Nido is expected to be back before McCann.

Lindor

Francisco Lindor is out of the Mets' lineup on Wednesday, just one day after being activated from the IL. Since he skipped out on a rehab assignment, the Mets are easing him back in after he missed five weeks with a strained oblique.

According to Rojas Lindor could get another off day later this week, but moving forward, he should be good to go.