NEW YORK — It’s a fantastic weekend to be in Port St. Lucie, Fla.
In a huge step, Jacob deGrom will make his first rehab start on Sunday for Single-A St. Lucie at Clover Park. DeGrom will face the Jupiter Hammerheads, the Marlins’ Single-A affiliate, under the lights at 6:10 p.m.
The Mets ace is expected to throw around two innings and 25 pitches. It will be his first time facing another opponent since spring training in March, when he was diagnosed with a stress reaction on his right scapula. He last pitched in a major league game on July 7, 2021.
“Every day we can check a box off is a day we feel better and clearly a day closer,” said Mets GM Billy Eppler. “The fact that he’s able to meet these goals and standards is keeping us optimistic and on course.”
DeGrom’s ramp-up is essentially spring training 2.0, Eppler indicated. In other words, the right-hander’s two innings pitched on Sunday will be equal to what the Mets would expect from their ace in his spring training debut. After his rehab assignment Sunday, the Mets will check with deGrom and how he feels every step of the way. It’s unclear if he will be on a normal, five-day schedule from that point on.
The club is expected to be extra careful with their ace as his rehab progresses. His schedule and ramp-up won’t exactly mimic Max Scherzer’s recent rehab from a left oblique strain, for example. Scherzer needed just two rehab starts before he received the green light to start for the Mets this upcoming Tuesday at Cincinnati.
DeGrom, on the other hand, is likely to need around a month of rehab starts before he can return to the majors since he’s essentially starting from scratch. Even so, deGrom being back in the rotation before July is over is a very real possibility.
“He’s hit every benchmark. We’ll take each day as it comes,” said Mets manager Buck Showalter, perhaps trying to temper any expectations about the ace.
In truth, these next few weeks will be critical for deGrom to prove that his arm and shoulder can handle the extra workload without having another setback. The two-time Cy Young winner has dealt with a series of maladies over the past couple of seasons, none more detrimental than the elbow injury that caused him to miss the second half of 2021.
DeGrom is, of course, a major part of the Mets’ potential 2022 success. Fans are still waiting to see deGrom and Scherzer headline the top of the rotation, and if both can stay healthy throughout the second half, then the sky just might be the limit for a Mets team that has managed to hold onto first place in the NL East for a significant time without their co-aces.
For now, all eyes will be on deGrom as he continues his long journey back to a major league mound.
