Jacob deGrom will miss the opening day of the New York Mets because of a stress reaction in his right scapula.
The Mets said that deGrom will not throw for up to four weeks.
The best pitcher in baseball is DeGrom. In 15 starts last season, he posted a 1.08 earned run and in 92 appearances, he struck out 146 batters and walked 11. A variety of injuries caused him to miss starts, and elbow pain forced him to sit out the entire second half.
The shoulder blade is important in the pitching process. Stress reactions, which are injuries to bones typically brought on by repeated movement, are rare in pitchers' shoulders. Stress reactions can be healed through rest.
Michael Wacha had a stress reaction in his shoulder in June of last year. He came back to the rotation on Sept. 4.
DeGrom, who won back-to-back National League Cy Young Awards in 2018-19 and finished ninth in voting last season even with only a half-season's worth of games, was expected to play a significant role in the Mets efforts to oust the World. The New York Mets signed former Washington Nationals ace Max Scherzer to a three-year, $130 million contract this winter to pair with Jacob deGrom atop their rotation. The Nationals are expected to start Scherzer on Thursday.
In his two starts this spring, deGrom gave up one run in five starts and struck out 10 without walking a batter. The team sought an exam of deGrom's arm Friday morning after he felt a twinge in his right shoulder Thursday.
The bone in deGrom's shoulder looked clean, but it was enough to shut him down for the start of the season. He plans to opt out of his contract at the end of the season, which will pay him $33.5 million, but he said it would be cool to be a Met.
deGrom was selected in the ninth round of the 2010 draft by the New York Mets and has a career record of 77-53 with a 2.50 ERA and 1,505 strikeouts in 1,261.2 pitches.
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