Jacob deGrom—back-to-back Cy Young winner, arguably the best pure pitcher of this generation—was last seen on a major league bump on July 15th … 2021. After that game, in which deGrom gave up two runs and posted 10 Ks in seven innings of work against the Brewers, deGrom was shut down with forearm tightness. The prevailing wisdom was that he would be reactivated for the stretch run, but the stretch run never came as the Mets imploded in the second half, missing the playoffs altogether.
So deGrom remained on ice and the narrative was tweaked. Now he was being saved for 2022, the crown jewel in a new rotation bolstered by the acquisition of a 1B to his 1A, Max Scherzer. But deGrom was shut down again in spring training, this time with right shoulder soreness, later diagnosed as a stress fracture to his right scapula. In May, deGrom was moved to the 60-day IL, moving his potential return date to late July.
Well, lo and behold it’s now late July, and deGrom is finally nearing the end of his sabbatical. On Wednesday he made his final rehab start for the Triple-A Syracuse Mets, facing an Omaha Storm Chasers lineup peppered with established hitters (including the Royals’ Salvador Perez, himself rehabbing from injury). deGrom worked a scoreless first, but in the second the wheels started to wobble, with deGrom giving up a pair of bombs to Brewer Hicklen and…
