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New York Mets ace Jacob deGrom was scratched from Tuesday’s start vs. the St. Louis Cardinals due to a lat issue. Mets P Miguel Castro will start in place of deGrom vs. the Cards. The Mets dropped the series opener on Monday night 6-5 and were coming off a series loss to the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Mets sent deGrom for an MRI and here’s what we got back. Jordan Yamamoto has been recalled from triple-A and Sean Reid-Foley was sent back down.
Mets announce deGrom's MRI showed inflammation in his right lat. He won't throw for the next few days, but no trip to the IL at the moment. Instead, Jordan Yamamoto will be recalled with Sean Reid-Foley being optioned.
— Tim Britton (@TimBritton) May 4, 2021
Prior to last Wednesday, deGrom was on a streak of three straight starts with at least 14 Ks. His latest outing was a 1-0 loss to the Boston Red Sox, when deGrom allowed 1 ER over 6 IP with 9 Ks. Because of his insane start, deGrom entered Tuesday as the frontrunner to win NL Cy Young (-125) and has even snuck into the conversation for NL MVP (+800) early on. If this is just a skipped start, deGrom should be fine and get back on track this weekend. We’ll see if deGrom needs a stint on the 10-day injured list.
So deGrom getting an MRI will tell us a bit more about the severity of the injury to his side. If it’s just some type of lat strain, that could mean a stint on the IL. If that’s the case, at least the Mets can’t lose deGrom a start by not hitting. There isn’t really a replacement for the best pitcher in baseball. The best fantasy baseball strategy would be to stream some pitchers and pray deGrom is back soon.