Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
The Mets announced Tuesday the team claimed lefty reliever Locke St. John off waivers from the Chicago Cubs. St. John was already in Triple-A, so he’ll be assigned to Triple-A Syracuse with the Mets. In order to make room for St. John on the 40-man roster, the Mets moved Jacob deGrom to the 60-day injured list.
The Cubs placed St. John on waivers on May 4 after the reliever gave up three runs (on two home runs) in two innings of work in the majors in late April. He also had a cup of coffee with the Rangers in 2019, when he four earned runs in 6 2/3 innings. Similarly in the minors for the Cubs this season, he’s given up four earned runs in seven innings.
Control is St. John’s issue, as it is with many relievers who struggle to pan out. He has a 9.5% career walk rate, which would rank as one of the worst in the majors this season while utilizing a fastball-sinker combo to go along with a slider and changeup. If you’re looking for a silver lining here, he has a 57% whiff rate on 10 sliders thrown (seven swung at, four missed bats).
The 29-year-old was a 32nd round pick back in 2013, and he jumped around the Tigers and Rangers organizations before landing with the Cubs this season.
On the deGrom side of the news, this means he can’t be activated until at least June 6. Once his stress reaction injury was initially announced, deGrom likely wouldn’t have been able to ramp up until early June at the earliest given his initial four-week rest period before he could throw again.
In late April, the team announced he was healing nicely, but deGrom would remain shut down until around mid-May and then be reevaluated. They said he’d get an MRI again three more weeks from the announcement, which would put him at a follow up on May 16. It could always happen a little earlier.
