Phillies won’t have to face Jacob deGrom in at least the early part of 2022 season due to injury
By way of their unique 2022 season schedule, the Philadelphia Phillies surely paid close attention to the breaking news pertaining to their division-rival New York Mets on Friday.
According to ESPN baseball insider Jeff Passan, two-time Cy Young Award winner and four-time All-Star Jacob deGrom is expected to miss a “significant amount of time” to start the 2022 season. The 33-year-old righty underwent an MRI that revealed a stress reaction in his right scapula, forcing the Mets to shut him down for as much as four weeks, before he can be re-evaluated.
As 97.5 The Fanatic’s John Kincade noted, the Phillies play the Mets 10 times in their first 29 games (by May 8) — and deGrom will likely be sidelined for all of those matchups.
This also means that deGrom will miss at least half (three) of the six Phillies-Mets series scheduled for the 2022 season. The Phillies and Mets will play their final nine games against each other May 27-29 (Citi Field), August 12-14 (Citi Field), and August 19-21 (Citizens Bank Park).
“The deGrom injury situation is worth watching as poorly constructed schedules need to be taken advantage of,” said Kincade.
deGrom has consistently pitched well against the Phillies throughout his career. In 19 starts, against the Phillies, he is 8-1 with a 2.29 ERA, 0.991 WHIP and 126-27 strikeouts-to-walks ratio spanning 114 innings. deGrom has additionally thrown two complete games, one of which was a shutout.
deGrom is not the only Mets pitcher currently experiencing injury woes. Fellow ace Max Scherzer reportedly has been dealing with a hamstring issue, and is status for Opening Day is uncertain:
The way their 2022 schedule is constructed, the Phils need to make the most of facing a deGrom-less Mets early on.