Jacob DeGrom To Miss Next Start For Mets Due To Right Lat Soreness
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- One week into the season, the heralded New York Mets starting rotation is having health issues.
Jacob deGrom, the 2014 NL Rookie of the Year, will miss his scheduled start Wednesday against Miami because of a sore muscle in his right side. The Mets said Sunday he will be replaced by Logan Verrett.
DeGrom won the Mets' home opener Friday against Philadelphia, allowing one run and five hits over six innings during a 7-2 victory. DeGrom came out as a precaution after 76 pitches because his latissimus dorsi was tight.
"I would say it's quite a bit better today,'' deGrom said Sunday. "I think we're going to err on the side of caution, though, this early in the season.''
A 27-year-old right-hander, deGrom was 14-8 with a 2.54 ERA in 30 starts last season and went 3-1 in the postseason as the Mets reached the World Series for the first time since 2000. He is part of a formidable group of young Mets starters that includes Matt Harvey, Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz. Zack Wheeler is also due back from Tommy John surgery this summer.
"In a perfect world with no injuries, we've got a nice-looking pitching staff,'' manager Terry Collins said. "They can certainly all have an issue where we've got to regroup and adjust, and that's what we're going to have to do on Wednesday. It does show you nothing is etched in stone.''
DeGrom did not throw his scheduled bullpen session Sunday, and Collins said "we will let the doctors decide what the next move is and go from there.''
"It's improved, but not enough," Collins said.
DeGrom averaged 95-96 mph with his fastball last season, and his velocity was down during spring training. He averaged 92 mph Friday.
"If we thought for one second there was an issue, we wouldn't have ran him out there,'' Collins said. "I just think his arm is trying to still bounce back from last year.''
DeGrom said he has not undergone any scans and he thinks he will miss only one turn.
"We're pretty happy with how it's improving already,'' he said.
DeGrom could also head home to Florida if his wife goes into labor.
"We're still waiting on that call,'' he said. "What are we? Five days late now. The call would be nice.''
Verrett, a 25-year-old right-hander, made 10 relief appearances last year and had four starts late in the season as the Mets skipped Harvey's turn at times to limit innings in his first season after Tommy John surgery.
Verrett has not pitched in a game since an April 1 exhibition.
"Just having those four starts that I did towards the end of the season really gave me a lot of confidence going into this year, into whatever role it was going to be,'' he said.
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