Max Scherzer Has a “Moderate to High Grade” Oblique Strain, Mets Rotation Has a Big Hole Now
That Max Scherzer side injury mentioned in the Bullets this morning indeed turned out to be an oblique injury, and not a mild one.
The New York Mets’ ace – well, the one that was supposed to be pitching alongside other ace Jacob deGrom, who is himself out – is going to miss a lot of time:
UPDATE ON MAX SCHERZER
Max’s images showed a moderate to high grade internal oblique strain. A general timeline for an injury of this nature is 6-8 weeks.
— New York Mets (@Mets) May 19, 2022
I won’t play doctor, but I will play imaginary Mets fan: an oblique strain – especially a “moderate to high grade” one – would absolutely terrify me for the 37-year-old Scherzer. Oblique strains are notoriously fickle, sometimes clearing right up in that month to two month timeframe, and sometimes extending out much, much longer. Scherzer is in great shape, but any time you hear about a core injury for an older player, you just wonder about how long it’s going to take to get back to where he was.
Again, I’m not a doctor. I’ve just seen a lot of this injury over the years, and I know it’s one of the hardest to predict.
Even in an optimistic case where Scherzer misses only a couple months, the Mets may decide they need reinforcements in the rotation sooner rather than later, which is going to be tough in May. Right now, the Mets line up in the rotation with Chris Bassitt, Carlos Carrasco, Taijuan Walker, Trevor Williams, and … ? Tylor Megill is currently also on the IL with biceps tendonitis. So we’ll see if they move quickly to make an addition, if that’s even possible right now. The Mets are currently 6.0 games up in the NL East, and have the second best record in the NL. They were clearly going all out this year, which may also factor into what they decide to do.
I can conceive of a situation where the Cubs make a starter available, by the way, though the guys who just signed this offseason – for example, Drew Smyly – cannot be traded without their permission until June 15. I’m not suggesting the Cubs trade Wade Miley, but I would point out that he was a waiver addition, not a free agent signing.
If Caleb Kilian is already ready – and/or if the Cubs want to leave Keegan Thompson in the rotation – you do wonder at what point the Cubs would affirmatively want to open up a rotation spot. Just sayin’.
