NEW YORK (AP) – Trying to make a push in the crowded NL playoff race, the New York Mets plan to skip struggling right-hander Jacob deGrom the next time through the rotation.
The team says it hasn’t decided who will start in deGrom’s place Monday night against Miami, another club in the wild-card hunt. New York manager Terry Collins rattled off five potential candidates Friday: Sean Gilmartin, Seth Lugo, Logan Verrett, Gabriel Ynoa and Rafael Montero. The latter three are in the minors right now.
The 2014 NL Rookie of the Year, deGrom is 7-7 with a 2.96 ERA in 143 innings. He had been on an extended roll, lowering his ERA to 2.29, before getting rocked for 13 runs and 25 hits over 9 2/3 innings in his last two outings, against San Francisco and St. Louis.
The Mets say deGrom has responded well to time off in the past and they think a brief break will help him correct a mechanical flaw they’ve discovered in his delivery.