Ex-Pitcher & Docs Say There's Good News In deGrom Diagnosis

After a wonderful offseason, the New York Mets have been delivered a body blow going into the start of the season. MRI results have shown ace starter Jacob deGrom has a "stress reaction" in his right shoulder blade, and he's been shut down for four weeks, and likely won't return for up to two months. 

The 33-year-old, the best pitcher in baseball, missed the entire 2nd half of the 2021 season due to a forearm/elbow injury, and now must begin 2022 the same way: on the injured list. He'll be reevaluated after the four-week period, and a decision on next steps will be made then.

The good news in all this, is that there's nothing structurally wrong. NYU sports health expert Dr. Michael Alaia told the New York Post that a stress reaction injury like this rarely requires surgery. “Thankfully, most of the time these heal very nicely with a period of relative rest. Bones heal really well in the human body.” 

The No. 1 treatment for something like this is rest. “The chances of this recurring are probably going to be very small,” Alaia said. 

Former New York Yankees pitcher Brandon McCarthy is very familiar with this sort of injury and says not to worry, Mets fans: 

Since this injury technically should be named after me I can say that this really isn’t a big deal. Not as big as it seems. He’ll be just fine. https://t.co/U9X5gcaN65

— Brandon McCarthy (@BMcCarthy32) April 1, 2022

“Since this injury technically should be named after me I can say that this really isn’t a big deal,” McCarthy tweeted. “Not as big as it seems. He’ll be just fine.”

Photo Credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports