Jacob deGrom’s back gave out because he’s carried the Mets for years
By Josh Hill
The New York Mets haven’t even started their season yet and things are already getting bad.
Has the baseball season actually started if the New York Mets aren’t cratering in some way?
Well, it turns out that the season doesn’t even have to start for the Mets to be making a giant mess all over Queens, just when fans were getting excited to see them return to action. As we sit weeks away from MLB starting up its 2020 season, the Mets year already hangs in the balance.
Specifically, it hangs on the results of the MRI that Jacob deGrom is undergoing after suffering an back injury on Wednesday. While the exact diagnosis isn’t known, it’s likely from all the years deGrom has been forced to carry terrible Mets teams as far as he can take them.
NY #Mets ace Jacob deGrom is getting an MRI on his back today, manager Luis Rojas says, and will know his status after the test results
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) July 15, 2020
It could be something or it could be nothing. But the results directly impact the Mets chances of competing for a World Series in 2020, and historically the news in these situations is never good.
With the MLB season shortening to just 60-games due to the COVID-19 pandemic, every game counts more than it ever has before. In a typical 162-game marathon, everything ends up sort of counting in the end, but there are clearly games that don’t impact the final standings and those that do.
Every game is counts in a short season, which means every game that can be started by a potential Cy Young candidate is a tremendous advantage that few other teams in the NL East have. With the Atlanta Braves looking to seize the moment and the Washington Nationals defending a World Series title, the odds were already stacked against the Mets being able to make a huge impact in 2020.
The shortened season could play to their strengths though, as we’ve seen the Mets be one of the streakiest teams in baseball over the last handful of years. Lest we forget when they leapt out to a huge lead at the start of the 2018 season only to crater as the season wore on.
All it’ll take for a team to truly runaway is a hot streak, and the Mets having two of the best arms in baseball in their rotation bodes well for a truncated series of games. Losing deGrom in a normal season is heartbreaking but to lose him when he’s perhaps never been more of an X-factor is a kick in the shin almost fitting for what it feels like to be a Mets fan.