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The Mets have removed starter Jacob deGrom from his start against the Braves after he hyperextended his right elbow, the team announce to reporters including Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. Steve Gelbs of Sportsnet New York says deGrom is getting an MRI and the results will be revealed Thursday.
deGrom had suffered the injury while swinging and missing on a pitch during his at-bat in the bottom of the third inning, Mets manager Mickey Callaway told reporters. deGrom went on to throw a scoreless fourth inning before exiting the game for good. He finished with four shutout innings in his start, his seventh one of the season, allowing only two hits while striking out six batters.
DiComo says hyperextensions “are rare” in pitchers, using the example of former pitcher J.J. Putz, who had one with the Mariners in 2008 and missed five weeks of action. However, he said “any timeframe is speculation.”
The Mets can’t afford to have deGrom out of their rotation for any significant amount of time.
deGrom is 3-0 with a 1.87 ERA, which he lowered from 2.06 during his start Wednesday night. He did not factor into the decision, as the Braves broke a scoreless tie in the fifth inning and went on to earn a 7-0 victory to take over first place in the division after the Mets had been leading it through the first month of the year. deGrom has also posted a 0.99 WHIP, 54 strikeouts and 11.2 strikeouts per nine innings in 43 1⁄3 innings pitched.
deGrom has been the most consistent arm on the Mets’ staff since debuting in 2014, when he won the Rookie of the Year. He was an All-Star in 2015, the year which he helped the Mets reach the World Series, and has been a two-time top-eight finisher in the NL Cy Young race (seventh in 2015, eighth in 2017).
If deGrom is out for a while, the Mets may have to put Matt Harvey back in the rotation after recently moving him to the bullpen, move Seth Lugo or Robert Gsellman into it, or promote a young prospect like Corey Oswalt, Chris Flexen, or P.J. Conlon.