Jacob deGrom Dealing With Shoulder Tightness Ahead of Spring Training Start

The pitcher is set to start on Opening Day next week as of now.

Mets ace Jacob deGrom is scheduled to make a spring training start against the Cardinals on Friday, April 1.

However, it sounds like he won’t be making that start due to shoulder tightness, Inside The Mets’s Pat Ragazzo reported.

Mets manager Buck Showalter said the pitcher felt the tightness while practicing catch on Thursday. The manager said he would be “surprised” if his pitcher made his first start tomorrow. 

Buck Showalter just said Jacob deGrom felt tightness in the back of his shoulder after playing catch today

Showalter says he’d be “surprised” if deGrom makes his schedule spring start tomorrow. DeGrom might go for preliminary imaging in morning but Showalter said we’ll see

— Pat Ragazzo (@ragazzoreport) April 1, 2022

They are planning to have deGrom go in for tests in the morning to determine the seriousness of the issue.

Depending how the tests go, deGrom could be in question for the regular season. The Mets’ Opening Day game takes place on Thursday, April 7 against the Nationals. deGrom has made the last three Opening Day starts for the Mets.

After an unbelievable start to the 2021 season, injuries held deGrom to just 15 starts last year. He finished the season with a 1.08 ERA and 146 strikeouts in just 92 innings.

As of now, deGrom is slated to start on Opening Day next week for his fourth consecutive start. That could be in question as well depending on the severity of deGrom’s shoulder tightness.

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