NEW YORK — Max Scherzer Jacob deGrom The National League East-leading position is on the verge of being restored. Mets.
After sustaining a left oblique injury while pitching against St. Louis, Scherzer returned to New York and began throwing at Citi Field prior to Tuesday’s series opener against Milwaukee.
The three-time Cy Young Award winner right-hander at 37 years old is expected to throw a simulation game on Thursday. Scherzer stated that he isn’t ready to set a date for when he will return to the active roster.
Scherzer explained that the rehabilitation of this injury involved half of the battle getting back to 90%, then the second half going from 90% to 100%. “With the trainers there, we’ve done great work getting back at 90%, but I still have a fight there for 100%. Although we’ve made great progress to reach this point, I still have a lot of work ahead of us.”
DeGrom, who was twice a Cy Young Award winner in the first half of last year, missed the second part of last season because of a right-hand elbow injury. DeGrom also hasn’t pitched this season due to stress reactions in his right scapula. In his fourth bullpen session, DeGrom, a 33-year old right-hander, threw 30 pitches Tuesday.
With a 3.95 ERA, the Mets starters rank 15th among the majors. But they are averaging a 5.26 ERA over the 23 games since Scherzer’s injury. The struggles of Tuesday’s starter have inflated this mark. Chris Bassitt, who has a 7.62 ERA in his last five starts, as well as rookie spot starter Thomas Szapucki who gave up nine runs in 1⅓ innings against San Francisco on May 25.