The stiffness of Jacob deGrom’s back doesn’t appear to be serious, but has yet to be resolved if the Mets ace will make his scheduled start on Opening Day.
A day after deGrom left an intrasquad scrimmage due to lower back discomfort, an MRI examination on Wednesday showed nothing of concern, according to an industry source. DeGrom had released just one post the day before before leaving the mound and informing team officials of his discomfort.
With just over a week to go until the season opener against the Braves at Citi Field, on July 24, manager Luis Rojas and the team must decide whether to go ahead with deGrom’s scheduled start or take a more cautious approach.
It is not the first time that back discomfort has jeopardized the start of DeGrom on opening day. In 2018 he suffered stiffness in his back at the beginning of spring training that delayed his accumulation. DeGrom was finally not ready until Game 2 of the season, after Noah Syndergaard replaced him in Game 1.
If deGrom, whose only career started on Opening Day last year in Washington, is not an option, possible considerations would be Marcus Stroman and Steven Matz for the assignment.
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DeGrom was scheduled to face the Yankees over the weekend in one of two exhibition games the teams will play. Rojas waited Wednesday until he received more information before formulating a plan.
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