Mets: Jacob deGrom scratched from start due to ‘side tightness’

New York Mets right-hander Jacob deGrom will miss Tuesday’s start vs. the St. Louis Cardinals.

Ahead of Tuesday night’s road game vs. the St. Louis Cardinals, ace pitcher Jacob deGrom has been scratched from his start for the New York Mets.

DeGrom has been the best pitcher in baseball for awhile now, no matter how little run support his New York teammates regularly give him. In his first five starts of the season, deGrom is 2-2 with a 0.51 ERA, an 0.571 WHIP and 59 strikeouts. Relief pitcher Miguel Castro will get the emergency start with deGrom officially being ruled out with “right side tightness.” Can the Mets catch a break?

The Mets are 11-12 on the year, hoping deGrom would get them back to .500 after Tuesday night.

New York Mets: Jacob deGrom to miss Tuesday’s start to do side tightness

If the Mets want to contend and win the NL East this year, they are going to need their best player to pitch every fifth day at a Cy Young level. While it is totally fine that an ace pitcher misses a start from time to time, any lingering issues resulting from this could be catastrophic for the Mets. This is a team expected to do big things under new owner Steve Cohen. They are counting on deGrom.

The good news for the Mets is no team is running away with the NL East just yet. The two teams that qualified for the postseason a year ago have gotten off to even slower starts than them in the Atlanta Braves and the Miami Marlins. While the Mets have not really moved the needle yet this year, the same thing can be said for the Philadelphia Phillies and the Washington Nationals too.

As long as deGrom does not miss more than one start, the Mets should be able to sustain this.