Mets ace RHP Jacob deGrom has been scratched from Friday afternoon's spring training start against the St. Louis Cardinals due to a tight shoulder, manager Buck Showalter told reporters.
Showalter initially said after Thursday night’s loss to the Washington Nationals that deGrom felt some tightness in his right shoulder while playing catch earlier in the day. He will be evaluated again Friday with a 9:30 a.m. MRI.
The Mets "simply can’t assess the level of concern" regarding deGrom until they get more information, according to SNY MLB Insider Andy Martino.
Even without the shoulder tightness, there was a chance deGrom would be moved from the start anyway due to the forecast of poor weather.
DeGrom has made two starts this spring, combining to go five innings while allowing just one earned run and striking out 10 hitters.
The two-time Cy Young winner saw his 2021 season cut short to just 15 starts due to right elbow and forearm tightness. The right-hander was on pace for a historically great season, posting a 1.08 ERA and striking out 146 hitters in 92.0 innings.
After his first outing of the spring March 22, deGrom said he felt completely healthy after his two innings of work.
“It’s reassuring to go out there and feel completely fine,” deGrom said after that game.
“I think it was playing it smart. Talking to (pitching coach Jeremy Hefner) about it, not knowing exactly when we were going to show up (for spring training), didn’t want to go out there and push it too much early on.”
DeGrom then threw three innings in his next start, starting Sunday’s game before Max Scherzer threw six innings in relief.