The New York Mets ace and NL Cy Young favorite was pulled from Wednesday’s game due to an undisclosed ailment.
Entering Wednesday night, the New York Mets sat 2.5 games behind the San Francisco Giants for the eighth and final MLB postseason spot on the National League side of the bracket. With the truncated campaign less than two weeks from being over, Mets faithful breathed a sigh of relief knowing that ace Jacob deGrom was pitching on the mound against the rival Philadelphia Phillies. Surely nothing would go wrong, right?
After surrendering three runs in the second inning, deGrom was seen talking to pitching coach Jeremy Hefner and athletic trainer Brian Chicklo in the dugout. During the interaction, deGrom angrily spiked a water bottle onto the ground. deGrom was removed from the game and subsequently replaced by Michael Wacha in the third.
Later on in the game, the Mets announced that deGrom left with a right hamstring “spasm.”
Mets postseason hopes take a massive hit
After getting out of the first inning unscathed, deGrom struggled to get out of the second, where he allowed three runs on four hits. Overall, deGrom recorded one strikeout and one walk in his shortened day of work.
deGrom entered the game leading the entire National League in ERA at 1.67. But after allowing those three runs in two innings, the ERA has now skyrocketed to 2.09. deGrom now falls behind fellow Cy Young favorites Trevor Bauer of the Cincinnati Reds and Yu Darvish of the Chicago Cubs in that category. Had he maintained that sub-2.00 ERA, he’d easily clinch his third consecutive Cy Young Award.
Not only did deGrom lose leverage in the ERA race, but also on a bit of Mets history. deGrom had a 13-start streak where he allowed two earned runs or less, per ESPN Stats and Info. deGrom now sits in second all-time behind Dwight Gooden, who had 15-straight starts with two or fewer earned runs allowed from 1985-86.
It’s unknown if deGrom will miss any time with the injury. If it does, the Mets postseason chances this year took a massive hit.