The cavalry is coming and at just the right time.
Jacob deGrom will start Sunday against the Twins, and Steven Matz will throw another bullpen session Saturday, with hopes of returning to a major league mound soon.
After previously discussing deGrom and Matz, both recovering from injuries, possibly combining to pitch Sunday in place of struggling right-hander Rafael Montero, the Mets instead opted to give deGrom the ball and allow him to throw around 75 pitches, manager Terry Collins announced. The Mets thought about using Noah Syndargaard on four days’ rest, but the big right-hander told Collins he could use an extra day.
“So we thought it’d be a good time to get Jake in there,” the manager said before the Mets’ 3-0 win over the Twins on Friday night at Citi Field. “Not only do we think he’s ready — I just saw him throw his pen; he threw the ball great — we know how good he can be in the daytime.”
The Mets lead the Cardinals for the second NL wild card by two games and trailing the Giants for the first wild card by a game.
After Montero allowed six earned runs in 1 ²/₃ innings in Monday’s loss to the Nationals and waked 14 batters across 11 innings, the Mets decided to pull him from the rotation.
DeGrom (7-8, 3.04 ERA) threw a bullpen session Friday after throwing a similar one Monday in Washington. Battling right forearm discomfort, deGrom last pitched Sept. 1, the final one of three poor starts in which his velocity dipped, his control was inconsistent, and his ERA jumped from 2.30 to 3.04.
“Our expectations right now are to kind of build him back up a little bit,” Collins said. “I think he will dictate a lot by how he feels, but we certainly hope — he’s basically gonna get three starts — we’re hoping that we can get him back up to where if we get in the postseason, he’s a viable option for us. We certainly think he’s gonna be fine, but we don’t have a crystal ball here to know what’s gonna happen after he throws Sunday.
“Obviously the effort level’s going to be pretty intense with him [compared to his bullpen sessions], and we’ll see how he bounces back from it. But we’re just glad to have him back.”
Matz (9-8, 3.40 ERA) last threw a bullpen session Wednesday in Port St. Lucie. He hasn’t pitched since Aug. 22 after suffering from left-shoulder impingement. He also has been pitching with a large bone spur in his left elbow that will need surgery after the season.
The Mets have stayed afloat without Matz and deGrom thanks to the strong pitching of young right-handers Seth Lugo and Robert Gsellman — the duo has gone a combined 6-2 with a cumulative 2.64 ERA in 10 starts — and they hopefully now will add Matz and deGrom to the fold. But it’s too early for the Mets to make any decision if Gsellman or Lugo will get bumped from the rotation if both deGrom and Matz can pitch through the end of the year.
“We’ll see what happens when they get back, where they’re going to fit,” Collins said. “If Steven can come back, that’d be a nice piece to have as we get into those last few games. But we aren’t making any determinations on who’s gonna start except for the next five days and go from there.”