LOS ANGELES — The phenom is back.
After two weeks on the sidelines with rotator cuff tendinitis in his right shoulder, Jacob deGrom will resume his NL Rookie of the Year candidacy Saturday night, when he takes the mound at Dodger Stadium.
Mets manager Terry Collins said he expects to have deGrom, who is 6-5 with a 2.87 ERA in 16 starts this season, for 90-100 pitches.
“To get him back in the rotation is going to be major for us, and to make sure we get him through the next six weeks healthy,” Collins said before the Mets’ 6-2 loss to the Dodgers Friday.
DeGrom’s return, coupled with Bartolo Colon’s removal from the bereavement list to pitch Sunday, gives the Mets a complete rotation heading into the final month of play.
Rafael Montero pitched to mixed results in two starts replacing deGrom, and Carlos Torres shined in an emergency start after Colon left the team on Monday to be with his ailing mother, who passed away in the Dominican Republic.
DeGrom last pitched on Aug. 7, when he took a no-decision against the Nationals after surrendering three earned runs over six innings. Following that start, deGrom had soreness in the shoulder while playing catch and alerted the team’s medical staff. A subsequent MRI exam determined he had tendinitis in the rotator cuff.
That diagnosis brought a sigh of relief from the Mets, who were grappling at the time with how to handle deGrom’s innings limit. The recent shutdown now will allow deGrom, who will be capped around 180 innings, to likely finish the season. DeGrom has pitched 138 ²/₃ innings this season split between Triple-A Las Vegas and the Mets.
“I’ve never played this long and this is the most innings I’ve had,” deGrom said. “So playing all the way to the end of September is very important. Hopefully I stay healthy and get to the end of the year.”
Collins hinted the team could add a sixth starter in September, after rosters expand, to better help deGrom and Zack Wheeler to receive their necessary rest.
“If they do bring another starter up and we go to a sixth man, there is nothing wrong with that,” Collins said. “As long as we don’t have to skip him or not pitch him. Even if it’s every sixth day instead of fifth day that will still help.”
From Collins’ perspective, September is an important month for all first-year major leaguers.
“There’s a lot of advantage [to playing], and that’s to learn how to do it,” Collins said. “The players who have never had to play in September, that sixth month, that’s a tough task. You can imagine what it’s like when you’re playing for something.
“That’s where all the pennant races, to go in there that last month, that’s where it counts. So to have any of these rookies able to participate at full strength in the month of September will certainly help us when it’s time to step up and be a part of that pennant race.”