It seemed so hopeful in Metsland, for a minute there at least, when Jacob deGrom sat at a table for his Zoom session with reporters just past 2:30 on Thursday afternoon.
Appearing both relaxed and resolved, deGrom did not hesitate before responding to the first question about how his lower back felt and if he expected to pitch on Opening Day.
"I feel good,’ deGrom said. “That's the goal, to pitch on Opening Day."
Phew, right? The most essential Met had emerged from a scare without expecting to miss any time.
On Tuesday, deGrom left an intrasquad game with lower back tightness. He received a clean MRI on Wednesday.
On Thursday’s Zoom, he detailed what he wanted to do over the next week in order to prepare for the season.
“These past two days I’ve felt really good,” deGrom said. “Treat it today and hopefully throw (Friday). I think that’s the goal right now. Having everything checked out and checking all those boxes definitely makes me feel better about this situation.”
After throwing Friday, he wants to pitch once more for a tuneup. That lines up for Sunday’s exhibition game against the Yankees, in which deGrom wants to throw 60-65 pitches, allowing him to push to around 80--85 for Opening Day.
DeGrom would then face the Atlanta Braves at Citi Field on July 24. If that start had to be shorter than usual because he wasn’t fully stretched out, so be it. The main point was that his back felt strong, and he was ready to go.
We were in the middle of hearing those optimistic details -- which included deGrom saying that he was so unconcerned that he almost didn’t even get the MRI, and he thought the tightness was a flukey and passing occurrence -- when the Mets cut off the news conference with several questions still in the queue. This is not typical.
At about 3 p.m., the situation grew murkier, when manager Luis Rojas declined to offer a plan for deGrom, beyond repeating that his ace was “day to day.”
That throwing that deGrom planned to do tomorrow? Unconfirmed. Pitching plans for the Yankee exhibition? Unclear.
“We’re excited for the news that came out of the MRI obviously being clean,” Rojas said. “We’re all hopeful for a lot of things — Jake to throw, Jake for Opening Day — but right now it’s a day-to-day approach that we’re taking.”
Rojas is in a tricky spot, a rookie manager trying to navigate specific questions while his employers seem to want answers on this topic to be vague. But the upshot of his news conference was that we were left with no clear idea of deGrom’s status.
Perhaps the Mets are doing what’s right here, tempering an athlete’s enthusiasm with a strong dose of caution. That’s better than pushing him too hard to be ready for the opener and risking an injury. Prudence and caution are the wise approaches to injury.
It almost doesn’t need to be said how important deGrom is to the Mets’ chances this year. He’s the best pitcher in the league, and Noah Syndergaard is already down after undergoing Tommy John surgery. If deGrom misses Opening Day, Marcus Stroman becomes the most likely candidate -- and like just about any pitcher, Stroman, Steven Matz, Rick Porcello or any other choice would represent a significant dropoff from deGrom.
Because of that-- not to mention the basic ethical principle of not risking an individual’s health for the sake of a team -- the Mets should and likely will treat the situation with caution.
Beyond that? We don’t know much, because deGrom is the only one willing to share any details.