Why Mets are switching Jacob deGrom's rehab to New York
Jacob deGrom of the Mets looks on after a game against the Diamondbacks at Citi Field on April 15. Credit: Jim McIsaac
SAN FRANCISCO — The Mets have moved injured ace Jacob deGrom back to New York to continue his rehabilitation for one primary reason: Things are getting pretty serious.
DeGrom is throwing from 90-105 feet and could advance to the mound as soon as this weekend, pitching coach Jeremy Hefner said Tuesday. And the club wants Hefner and other major-league personnel to be able to work with him in person.
“The intensity is starting to climb now,” Hefner said. “We want to have eyes on him as we progress toward bullpens, we want to make sure that [everything is going well]. Not that the people in Port St. Lucie can’t do that. But once he’s starting bullpens, then he can do that with me, we can get him into that routine and those sorts of things.”
Out with a stress reaction in his right shoulder blade, deGrom still is near the beginning of a spring training-style buildup.
Does that suggest he is six weeks or so away?
“I don’t put timelines on anything, because it could go fast,” Hefner said. “It could be four weeks. It could be 12 weeks. We have to see how his body reacts to it.”
Tylor Megill (right biceps tendinitis) is a better bet to throw a bullpen session this weekend, according to Hefner.
Pitching plans
Lefthander Thomas Szapucki met up with the Mets on Tuesday and is the best bet to start Wednesday against the Giants.
Manager Buck Showalter, declining to name a pitcher for the series finale, said there was a late “hiccup” that probably wouldn’t mess with their plans but that they had to tend to it, anyway.
Szapucki has a 2.86 ERA and 1.32 WHIP (and 30 strikeouts in 22 innings) for Triple-A Syracuse.
“He warrants an opportunity to see what he can do at this level,” Hefner said.
May checks in
Trevor May, out with a stress reaction in his right humerus, is close to another round of medical imaging that will tell the Mets how he is recovering.
“I’m crushing rehab. My body feels like it’s moving better, and is stronger, than it’s been in a minute,” he wrote on Twitter on Tuesday. “The arm feels way better and we’re quickly approaching imaging to see if we’re good to ramp up. Can’t wait to contribute to this special team in any way I can.”
Extra bases
Buck Showalter acknowledged the temptation to put J.D. Davis in the lineup again Tuesday after his big game Monday but opted to stick with the plan and “the projections” that told the Mets Dominic Smith was better suited to hit against Logan Webb . . . David Wright attended the game Monday and said hello to Showalter and others afterward . . . On Metallica Night at Oracle Park on Tuesday, the San Francisco-based band played the national anthem.
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
