NEW YORK (AFP) – Mets ace Jacob deGrom is finally ready to begin a minor league rehab job.
He has been sidelined due to injuries since last July, and the two-time winner Cy Young is set to start Sunday night for Class A St Lucy against Jupiter Hammerheads. He is expected to make about 25 throws and two turns.
This will be his first competitive outing since Degrom’s spring training, off-season due to the stress reaction in the right shoulder that caused the inflammation.
Saturday’s announcement from New York came nearly a year since DeGrom’s last major league game on July 7, 2021. He missed the second half of last season with a right forearm tightness and elbow sprain, then returned in spring training this year and made the Grapefruit League start On March 22 and 27.
But then he was sidelined by the tension backlash and didn’t deal another blow until June 4. The 34-year-old right-hander was facing hitters in the team compound in Florida and the Mets said he was satisfied after making 27 pitches. for speculators on Wednesday.
As he gains in his arm strength and stamina, DeGrom will need several small rounds of rehab in the league before he is ready to join the New York tournament. General Manager Billy Ebler likened the process to the progression of typical spring drills, and manager Buck Showalter said DeGroom would not return until he’s stretched enough to be able to make five or more rounds.
So the possibility is that DeGrom won’t be back in the major tournaments until at least late July, after the All-Stars break.
Fellow Max Scherzer (5-1, 2.54 ERA) is scheduled to return from a strained left oblique muscle Tuesday night in Cincinnati. Scherzer, a three-time Cy Young winner, was injured on May 18 against St. Louis, and recently began rehab for Double-A Binghamton.
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