Mets ace Jacob deGrom shut down four weeks, will miss Opening Day

JUPITER, Fla. — Jacob deGrom won't toe the rubber for the Mets on Opening Day, or nearly the entire month of April.

An MRI on Friday revealed a stress reaction on his scapula that caused inflammation in his shoulder. DeGrom will not throw for up to four weeks before undergoing further tests.

"You don’t want to start throwing if there’s inflammation still present," Mets general manager Billy Eppler said. "The inflammation was such that it was going to take some time to get that to go down. That’s where we’re at."

DeGrom began to feel discomfort in his shoulder after playing long toss prior to Thursday night's game with the Nationals. He met with Buck Showalter before he was scratched from Friday's start as he went in for the test. 

Eppler said that there is a chance that deGrom could undergo imaging sooner but that the four weeks seemed like a reasonable timeline.

"We're following an order of operations right now and we'll take another picture in as late as another four weeks," Eppler said. "That's where we are right now."

It's another tough blow for deGrom and the Mets.

Last year, deGrom made just 15 starts while battling arm discomfort that flared up at different points during the season. He was shut down on July 7 after suffering a sprained/partial tear in his ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.

"He’s disappointed. We’re disappointed. Everybody’s sharing in the disappointment right now," Eppler said. "Nobody’s immune to that. I think the good news is here is nothing’s structurally wrong here as far as the rotator cuff or anything like that’s concerned. We are dealing with a bone issue.

"When you’re dealing with bone, they calcify. The healing characteristics will take care of themselves."

He was dominant in those starts, though, going 7-2 with a 1.08 ERA.

The Mets shored up their starting rotation this offseason, signing three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer and trading for All-Star Chris Bassitt. There is a chance that Scherzer could start on Opening Day in deGrom's absence, but Buck Showalter wants to assess his capabilites following a workout on Saturday.