Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports
The New York Mets have announced that Jacob deGrom has officially been activated from the injured list to make the start in Tuesday night’s ballgame against the Colorado Rockies at Citi Field.
In a corresponding roster move, right-hander Jordan Yamamoto has been placed on the injured list with what the team is calling right shoulder soreness. With outfielder Johneshwy Fargas expected to join him soon, the Mets now have 17 players residing on the injured list.
Yamamoto made the start on Sunday afternoon against his former team, the Miami Marlins, and struggled mightily. The young right-hander started off with a strong first inning, and fell apart in the second inning.
He bounced back in the third and fourth before being pulled in the fifth with 73 pitches due to the shoulder soreness. On the afternoon, Yamamoto allowed five runs, four earned, on six hit while walking two and striking out two.
deGrom finally makes his much anticipated return to the mound on Tuesday night. The right-hander left his start back on May 9 against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the fifth inning due to side tightness.
deGrom was placed on the 10-day injured list, but continued playing catch. He threw a bullpen session last week, followed by a dominant rehab outing with the Low-A St. Lucie Mets. He threw 41 pitches, hitting 102 MPH once, and struck out eight over three scoreless innings.
Mets manager Luis Rojas said pregame on Monday afternoon that deGrom will not have an official pitch count in Tuesday’s start, and they will take it inning by inning.
DeGrom has a video-game esque 0.60 ERA, 0.65 WHIP, and 65 punch-outs over 40 innings this season. The struggling Mets offense will also benefit from the return of his bat to the lineup, as deGrom is hitting .467 with a 1.000 OPS over 15 at-bats on the season.
In other good news on the pitching-side of things, Taijuan Walker (left side tightness) threw a bullpen session on Tuesday afternoon at Citi Field and all went well. Walker, of course, left his last start with the side tightness and was later placed on the injured list.
Mets manager Luis Rojas said pregame on Tuesday that Walker felt and threw the ball really well and the team was very excited about how he looked. Rojas added that Walker still has a few hurdles to clear, but he doesn’t expect him to need a rehab assignment prior returning from the injured list.
The right-hander is first eligible to return to the team on Friday night against the Atlanta Braves.
This is certainly some much needed positive news on the injury-front for this battered New York Mets ball club.
