Mets plan to place Jacob deGrom on 10-day injured list

The New York Mets are planning on placing ace Jacob deGrom on the 10-day injured list on Tuesday due to side tightness. The NL Cy Young favorite had been scratched from a start early last week due to inflammation in his lat. He initially avoided the IL and ended up starting on Sunday afternoon vs. the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Mets pulled deGrom early after just 5.0 IP and 68 pitches. He allowed 1 ER on 1 hit with 3 BB and 6 Ks in the outing, so it was still a pretty deGrom type of outing. The move will be retroactive to May 10 and isn’t expected to be serious.

The Mets begin their next series on Tuesday against the Baltimore Orioles. Right now, Taijuan Walker and Marcus Stroman are expected to start in the two-game set. New York had deGrom slated to start this upcoming Sunday vs. the Tampa Bay Rays. Instead, we’ll see who joins Stroman, Walker, Joey Lucchesi and David Peterson in the rotation. The Mets haven’t announced a corresponding move and there isn’t really a natural replacement on the roster to enter the rotation for deGrom. Robert Gsellman and Miguel Castro could end up spot starting.

This shouldn’t impact the NL Cy Young or MVP race too much for deGrom. He entered this week with the second-best odds to win MVP at +800 and is the favorite to win NL Cy Young at -136 on DraftKings Sportsbook. As long as this isn’t serious, deGrom should only miss 1-2 starts and get back into the rotation. He’s missed time for nagging injuries like this before.