New York Mets starter Jacob deGrom threw a regular bullpen on Friday in Port St. Lucie. He threw 20 pitches as he works his way towards his first spring outing of 2018.
He had thrown a modified bullpen on Wednesday just two days after reportedly dealing with back stiffness that has held him out of Grapefruit League action.
DeGrom had no setbacks in the bullpen and will pitch again on Sunday but it hasn’t been decided yet if it will be in a simulated environment or in a game. It’s still unknown if he will be able to get enough starts in to be ready for Opening Day.
Here’s a piece of deGrom’s seemingly uneventful bullpen session. pic.twitter.com/YohfyJ32Uj
— Tim Healey (@timbhealey) March 2, 2018
Original Post – Feb. 27
Mets manager Mickey Callaway said following Tuesday’s loss to the Astros that right-hander Jacob deGrom would really have to ramp it up to be ready for the first week of the season.
Ideally, he would have to start Saturday to get five more outings in to be ready for the beginning of the campaign.
DeGrom spoke to reporters after he reported the back stiffness on Monday, and said he threw from flat ground today and “felt fine.”
“We wanted to play it safe versus trying to push through something,” he said. “Tomorrow the plan is to get back on the mound so we’ll go from there.”
DeGrom, 29, went 15-10 with a 3.53 ERA and 3.50 FIP last season. In 201.1 innings he struck out 239 and walked 59, pitching to a 1.187 WHIP. He finished 8th in Cy Young Award voting.
