As Mets fans freaked out and the organization waited on pins and needles for the MRI exam results for its ace’s barking right elbow, Jacob deGrom insisted he was calm, not fearing the worst.
On Thursday morning, the good news came as deGrom hoped: His hyperextended elbow had no structural damage. No strain, even. He can prepare to make his scheduled start Monday against the Reds after being examined at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan.
That sound you heard was a huge sigh of relief coming from Queens.
“I think I’ll be fine,” deGrom, who reported no lingering pain in his elbow, said before the Mets’ 11-0 loss to the Braves at Citi Field on Thursday afternoon. “I feel good today. I get a day where we get some treatment in and we go from there. They said there was nothing on the MRI, so my head is pretty clear.”
Dr. Armin Tehrany, the founder of Manhattan Orthopedic Care, said he believes since the MRI came back clean and there are no symptoms of recurring pain, deGrom should be fine to pitch Monday.
“Nothing in what we’ve seen or read so far would indicate [he’s putting himself at risk] based on this injury,” Tehrany said in a phone interview.
The plan is for deGrom to play catch Friday, throw a bullpen session Saturday and take his turn in the rotation Monday if all goes well. He will be closely monitored over the next few days.
“We just have to make sure his mechanics are where they need to be to continue to maintain his health,” manager Mickey Callaway said. “Obviously, talking to him on a daily basis, making sure he’s not feeling anything.
“It felt good to be able to sit in there and hear that news and talk to Jacob, just knowing he’s in a better spot than we thought [with] him coming out of the game [Wednesday] night is relief.”
DeGrom, 29, suffered the injury on a swing and miss in the third inning of Wednesday’s 7-0 loss to the Braves. He told Callaway and pitching coach Dave Eiland of the discomfort but felt he could continue to pitch. He has felt similar pain after previous swings this season, and it hadn’t affected his pitching. This time, he felt pain in his biceps while on the mound and was pulled after the fourth inning with his ERA down to 1.87 after four shutout frames.
DeGrom said he wasn’t overly concerned Wednesday night. The dominant right-hander knows what a major elbow injury feels like and where the pain comes from — he underwent Tommy John surgery for torn elbow ligaments in 2010 — and this wasn’t that. He slept fine after having the MRI exam.
“Their thought, I think, is the biceps tried to stop the arm from hyperextending and maybe something in there [got] aggravated,” deGrom said. “I’ve been injured before. Kind of the spot it was in. I wasn’t as worried. So I was like, ‘This has got to be more of a muscle thing than a structural thing.’ I wasn’t as worried when I was coming in, but I was frustrated [Wednesday] night. For something to happen on a swing or whatever? I was pitching well. Looking back, I probably should have taken [pitches] until I struck out.”
DeGrom won’t take batting practice in the meantime, but he didn’t say whether he would stop swinging in games. He has a solution for the issue.
“Don’t swing and miss,” he joked.
