Thursday, 19 May 2022. 15:02
Already deprived of Jacob deGrom, the New York Mets will now have to do without Max Scherzer for a period of six to eight weeks.
The right-hander suffers from a moderate-to-high grade internal sprain in his left oblique, the club announced on Thursday.
On Wednesday night, Scherzer left the game against the St. Louis Cardinals in the 6th inning on a pitch served to Albert Pujols. Almost immediately, he called coach Joe Golia, who came to the mound with manager Buck Showalter and pitching coach Jeremy Hefner. The group conferred for a few moments before Scherzer left with Golia.
With Scherzer on the sidelines for an extended period and two-time Cy Young winner Jacob deGrom, as well as Tylor Megill already on the disabled list, the Mets face a stern test of their depth.
The rest of the Mets rotation includes Chris Bassitt, Carlos Carrasco and Taijuan Walker, with David Peterson and Trevor Williams as depth options.
The 37-year-old right-hander is 5-1 with a 2.54 ERA in eight starts after signing a three-year, $130 million contract with the Mets. Scherzer, who appeared in eight career All-Star games, struck out 59 and walked 11 in 49 2/3 innings on the mound.
The Mets started Thursday with a six-game cushion at the top of the National League East Division.
