Bad news for the Mets.
Right-hander Jacob deGrom, who is dealing with a nagging lat issue, was unable to complete his scheduled bullpen session Friday.
deGrom wasn't physically good enough to throw a full bullpen today. Doesn't sound promising.
— Marc Carig (@MarcCarig) April 15, 2016
The Mets are in Cleveland but deGrom is in Florida at their spring training complex, where Friday's bullpen session took place. The team has given him the okay to stay near his Florida home because his wife recently had their first child.
deGrom, 27, left his first start of the season last Friday after only six innings and 76 pitches due to the lat issue. He has already missed one start, and since he was unable to throw Friday, chances are he will miss at least one more at least.
Last season deGrom threw a career high 216 innings between the regular season and postseason. His velocity has been down early this year ...
... and now he's dealing with this lat issue. Even though it is technically not an arm injury, the lat is right near the shoulder, so surely the Mets do not want to push deGrom and have the injury turn into something bigger.
Mets southpaw Steven Matz missed two months with a lat injury last season, so these injuries can be pretty significant. SportsLine still gives the Mets a very good chance to make the postseason even if DeGrom is sidelined for a while, but obviously they're at their best when he's out there every fifth day.
It's unclear what the next step for deGrom and the Mets is right now. I assume they'll let him rest a little longer before trying to throw in the bullpen again. Logan Verrett, who made the spot start for deGrom earlier this week, figures to remain in the rotation in the meantime.
