The New York Mets will be without ace Max Scherzer until July. Scherzer exited Wednesday night's start with left side discomfort, and on Thursday the team announced he has a "moderate to high grade" oblique strain. He is expected to miss 6-8 weeks. Scherzer will join Jacob deGrom (shoulder) and Tylor Megill (biceps) as Mets starter on the injured list.
Scherzer pulled himself from Wednesday's game, and given his history of pitching through nagging injuries, it was a clear sign the oblique was giving him real trouble.
"I don't think this is a major strain," Scherzer told ESPN following Wednesday's game. "I was kind of tight and then all of a sudden it went. But I don't feel like I really ripped it. It just kind of got worse. So hopefully I got out of there quick enough to prevent a major injury here because I know oblique, intercostal, those things can be nasty. Hopefully I avoided a serious injury."
The 37-year-old Scherzer has been one of the game's great workhorses throughout his career. He missed time with hamstring and neck issues in 2019, and was unable to make a start in last year's NLCS because of arm fatigue, otherwise he's been as reliable as any pitcher in the game. Scherzer's made at 27 starts in every 162-game season since 2009.
Even without deGrom and Scherzer, the Mets have a solid rotation led by veterans Chris Bassitt, Carlos Carrasco, and Taijuan Walker. Trevor Williams slid into Megill's rotation spot earlier this week, and it seems likely lefty David Peterson will replace Scherzer. The club has not announced their rotation plans, however.
Scherzer owns a 2.54 ERA with 59 strikeouts through eight starts and 49 2/3 innings this season. He signed a record three-year, $130 million contract this past offseason.
The Mets took an NL East leading 25-14 record into Thursday's series finale with the Cardinals (GameTracker).
