It's 2021 and Jacob deGrom still deserves his own thread.

[The Hot Corner]

I have essentially resigned myself to the Braves once again winning the NLeast.



There is little sense. IMO, in risking injury to DeGrom by having him pitch in a few meaningless games at the end of the season.

[bmfc1]

The Hot Corner wrote: I have essentially resigned myself to the Braves once again winning the NLeast.

And that's without one of the best players in baseball (and another starting OF).

[Edgy MD]

Well, we won't know how meaningless until then. Otherwise, the only injury-risk the team incurs is allowing their pitcher to continue to rehabilitate, which is what he'd be doing anyway.



But I don't believe in the meaningless game.

[Lefty Specialist]

He needs to get another opinion (and maybe he has). Because this kind of soreness doesn't occur in a vacuum. Typical Mets would be telling him to rest all winter and then after one spring training session it's determined he needs surgery.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Lefty Specialist wrote: He needs to get another opinion (and maybe he has). Because this kind of soreness doesn't occur in a vacuum. Typical Mets would be telling him to rest all winter and then after one spring training session it's determined he needs surgery.

That's what I was thinking. It's even worse than it appears because no one even knows what exactly it is that's ailing deGrom.



(Unless they do know but aren't saying. Which is even worse than the paragraph above.)

[Centerfield]

Best case scenario is bone spur right? Don't even want to consider the other side.

[batmagadanleadoff]

The Mets are ramping Jacob deGrom back up. Why they made that decision and what it means for the ace

The Mets got the best news they could on Wednesday, when an MRI cleared Jacob deGrom to begin throwing again. DeGrom played catch in the outfield at Citi Field before the game, his first time throwing since being shut down on July 30. “This is great news we got today,” manager Luis Rojas said. “It would be huge to have him back. … To see Jake late in the season would be ideal.” The Mets haven't set a timeline for deGrom's return. He's on the 60-day injured list, which means the earliest he could return is Sept. 13. On Tuesday, acting general manager Zack Scott suggested it wouldn't be quite that soon. “It's something we have to take day by day,” Scott said. “The whole point of ramping him up is to see if he can get back to where he needs to be before he could get activated while remaining asymptomatic.” “We've got to see how he progresses playing catch, and if there's a flag at some point we're probably going to be smart about it,” Rojas said Wednesday. The general rule in the sport is that a pitcher's ramp-up period is congruent to the time he was shut down. Applying that here would mean deGrom wouldn't be ready to return to the majors until Sept. 20; that would leave him three major-league starts this season. Of course, the Mets have fudged that rule before this season with Carlos Carrasco, who made three rehab starts after being shut down for months. Scott said they'd be ready to do the same with deGrom. “It just logically makes sense,” Scott said Tuesday about deGrom potentially finishing his ramp-up in the majors the way Carrasco did. “It's too early to have those conversations. But it's obvious where we are in the calendar. With guys like Noah (Syndergaard) and guys like Jake, we think they can impact the game in different ways. So we just need to figure out what makes the most sense given the time that we have remaining in the season.” Scott has said that the Mets' competitive context would not affect deGrom's timeline. The club views him as a healthy pitcher at this point, working his way back to being major-league ready. On Tuesday, Scott said he had no long-term concern about deGrom's health, even before an MRI result that the team viewed as encouraging. “We'll learn about how he's doing physically. It's important for him to be in a good place going into the offseason,” Scott said. “That can influence how we set up his offseason plan — what he's going to do in terms of working out, a throwing program, all those types of things. You learn a lot about the player whenever he's pitching in competition. There's value there, even if he never gets in a game, just getting up to that point to see how he responds physically. I think we'll learn something that'll help us going forward.” So if you're trying to eyeball a potential return for deGrom, that week between Sept. 13 and Sept. 20 — a homestand against St. Louis and Philadelphia before a trip to Boston — might make the most sense. DeGrom is the most important Met. He was in the midst of a historically good season when he last pitched on July 7, carrying an ERA just over one into the All-Star break. He's been the best pitcher in baseball for the last four years, and he has an opt-out clause in his contract at the end of the 2022 season. If there were zero questions about deGrom's health, this offseason would be a time to consider another extension. The pitcher's status as the team's most important player is what makes these next 39 days so delicate for New York. There is always the risk of a setback. Syndergaard and Carrasco both experienced them while working back on a cautious schedule. DeGrom himself appeared set for a rehab assignment in late July when he was shut down. In the Mets' mind, the potential rewards of deGrom's return outweigh that risk. Having deGrom back even for a few starts would certainly help New York in the standings if it's still in the race in the second half of September. Even if their 2021 chances are done by then, the Mets can benefit from getting a solid read on deGrom's health going into the offseason. It will influence their thinking not just on another long-term arrangement with the ace but also how they fill out their rotation for 2022. Both Syndergaard and Marcus Stroman will be free agents. One thing the Mets are contemplating is whether deGrom can and should take a step back with his velocity. DeGrom, of course, was throwing as hard as any starting pitcher in history earlier this season. And while the pitcher has attributed his earlier minor injuries to overzealous swings while batting, this latest and longest physical malady relates to pitching. DeGrom had his best season in 2018 averaging just over 96 on his fastball. He was averaging nearly 3 mph more this year, and some with the team wonder whether he'd be better served averaging less on his fastball while still retaining the triple-digit max speed he's flashed the last two seasons.

https://theathletic.com/2790681/2021/08/25/the-mets-are-ramping-jacob-degrom-back-up-why-they-made-that-decision-and-what-it-means-for-the-ace/https://theathletic.com/2790681/2021/08/25/the-mets-are-ramping-jacob-degrom-back-up-why-they-made-that-decision-and-what-it-means-for-the-ace/

[Ceetar]

“It's something we have to take day by day,” Scott said. “The whole point of ramping him up is to see if he can get back to where he needs to be before he could get activated while remaining asymptomatic.”



The club views him as a healthy pitcher at this point, working his way back to being major-league ready. On Tuesday, Scott said he had no long-term concern about deGrom's health, even before an MRI result that the team viewed as encouraging.







These two statements seem a little incongruous. It'd be nice if someone pushed back a little and got a clear answer.

[kcmets]

[bLOCKQUOTE]" He's on the 60-day injured list, which means the earliest he could return is Sept. 13. On Tuesday, acting general manager Zack Scott suggested it wouldn't be quite that soon."[/bLOCKQUOTE]

Enough already! What's he gonna pitch one game? For what?



Pull the plug NOW!!!

[The Hot Corner]

The reason I have seen for having DeGrom ramp back up and pitch this season, is so the Mets can go into the off season knowing DeGrom's status.

DeGrom's status is that he's the best pitcher on the damn planet (when healthy), he's just become rather fragile.



I don't think it is worth the risk to have him pitch one or two outings for a team that will be going nowhere, but home, when the regular season is over. I would prefer to let his arm have the entire winter to recover and get healthy/

[Ceetar]

There's something to be said for having your "arm strength" so to speak, at roughly 100% and ending your season around the normal time and having a normal recovery winter.

[batmagadanleadoff]

The Mets provided some clarity on the condition of injured ace Jacob deGrom on Tuesday, when team president Sandy Alderson told reporters at loanDepot park that deGrom has been sidelined with a sprain of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, but that injury has healed and the ligament is "perfectly intact, based on the MRIs and our clinical evaluations through our doctors."



Tuesday marked the first time deGrom's injury had been termed a "sprain"; the team had previously described him as battling "right elbow inflammation." But Alderson cautioned that the word sprain was a "technical term ... another term for a very mild ligament condition," and called deGrom's injury "a very low-grade thing that has resolved itself."



https://news.google.com/articles/CBMiR2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lm1sYi5jb20vbmV3cy9qYWNvYi1kZWdyb20tcy1yaWdodC1lbGJvdy1zcHJhaW4taGFzLXJlc29sdmVk0gFQaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubWxiLmNvbS9hbXAvbmV3cy9qYWNvYi1kZWdyb20tcy1yaWdodC1lbGJvdy1zcHJhaW4taGFzLXJlc29sdmVkLmh0bWw?hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aenhttps://news.google.com/articles/CBMiR2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lm1sYi5jb20vbmV3cy9qYWNvYi1kZWdyb20tcy1yaWdodC1lbGJvdy1zcHJhaW4taGFzLXJlc29sdmVk0gFQaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubWxiLmNvbS9hbXAvbmV3cy9qYWNvYi1kZWdyb20tcy1yaWdodC1lbGJvdy1zcHJhaW4taGFzLXJlc29sdmVkLmh0bWw?hl=en-US≷=US&ceid=US%3Aen

[Centerfield]

Sprains are basically small tears. Any torn UCL is cause for concern. But a google search suggests that ligaments do sometimes heal themselves.

[Gwreck]

One wonders if the next week has a major impact on deGrom's status. Sweep Miami, sweep that other team from the Bronx, pick up a couple of games on Atlanta, and sure, deGrom can pitch a few times and get stretched out for the playoffs.

[G-Fafif]

Ace pitcher, team he pitches for elude same page.

[Centerfield]

I saw the clip. Jake looked unhappy. I don't know if he's annoyed at the lack of progress or the messaging from Sandy or something else.

[G-Fafif]

Just in time for the lack of playoffs.

[G-Fafif]

[G-Fafif]

Au revoir to the best pitcher in baseball until 2022.

[Lefty Specialist]

He better not have something that 'mysteriously' pops up in Spring training and could have been addressed a few months ago. We're definitely not getting the full story here, either from deGrom or the Mets.

[MFS62]

Lefty Specialist wrote: He better not have something that 'mysteriously' pops up in Spring training and could have been addressed a few months ago. We're definitely not getting the full story here, either from deGrom or the Mets.

That kind of stuff used to happen frequently back when arm shoulder surgery wasn't as "routine" as it is today. Teams would prescribe rest for the year, only to find out next spring that it really was needed, wasting a year when the pitcher should already be rehabbing.

If that is the case, that new PR/Media/image firm they just signed on with is going to get a workout spinning this one.



Later

[kcmets]

=kcmets post_id=75596 time=1630004688 user_id=53]Pull the plug NOW!!!

[G-Fafif]

[Edgy MD]

If Hubie Brooks can outpace the field far enough to win a Silver Sluggerino in a half season of play, so can Jacob deGrom.



If any human being can achieve any outcome, so can Jacob deGrom.

[G-Fafif]

MRIs — not always helpful.

Over the past two seasons, deGrom has missed time due to neck, lat, back, shoulder, forearm and elbow issues, none of them proving overly serious until his final start of the first half against the Brewers. In the seventh inning of that game, deGrom experienced an unusual bit of soreness in his right forearm. At first, he thought little of it. But when the Mets resumed their season a week later in Pittsburgh, deGrom was still feeling discomfort. The club scheduled him for what became the first of several MRIs. Although the MRI revealed nothing more than a mild forearm strain, deGrom's arm discomfort spread from his forearm to elbow in the ensuing days. He believes now that the positioning of his arm in that MRI tube -- he laid on his stomach with his elbow raised above him for nearly an hour -- exacerbated the issue. “I honestly think that's what aggravated it,” he said.

DeGrom updates DiComo:



https://www.mlb.com/news/jacob-degrom-talks-2021-season-ending-injuryhttps://www.mlb.com/news/jacob-degrom-talks-2021-season-ending-injury

[Edgy MD]

He dominated that MRI exam though.

[Lefty Specialist]

He's going to crank it up in spring and he'll feel 'something'. And we'll be right back where we were before.

[Centerfield]

Lefty Specialist wrote: He's going to crank it up in spring and he'll feel 'something'. And we'll be right back where we were before.

This is my fear.

[G-Fafif]

Journalist of the Year Zach Buchanan is only BBWAA voter who remembers to name Jacob deGrom on his NL Cy Young ballot (fifth). The rest abandon their responsibility.



Zack Wheeler finishes a close second to Corbin Burnes.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Jake deGrom was the most popular look-up on Baseball Reference in 2021.







https://metsmerizedonline.com/2021/12/degrom-face-of-baseball-in-new-york-and-south-dakota.html/https://metsmerizedonline.com/2021/12/degrom-face-of-baseball-in-new-york-and-south-dakota.html/