Jacob deGrom leaves start early, heading for MRI

The New York Mets are holding their collective breath once again as Jacob deGrom needs an MRI on his shoulder.

New York Mets fans need to think positive thoughts after Jacob deGrom‘s early exit on Wednesday night. The NL MVP favorite was pulled after three innings of perfect pitching. The ace punched out eight batters without allowing a single baserunner in his short stint on the mound.

However, he felt some soreness in his shoulder and was subsequently pulled. deGrom spoke to the media about his frustration after the game:

Here's Jacob deGrom's reaction to his injury, including whether he thinks it's worth shutting down for a couple of weeks even if his MRI comes back completely clean: pic.twitter.com/4DemC2Cbyo

— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) June 17, 2021

“It felt good warming up. It felt really good in the first and second inning and then there in the third my shoulder was sore,” deGrom explained to reporters. “This is getting old. I want to be out there competing.”

This has happened to deGrom multiple times over the last few seasons. He feels something or the training staff sees something and he’s pulled from a game prematurely. So far, none of these injury scares have turned out to be anything significant, but he’s off for an MRI on Thursday anyway.

The Mets have battled through a ridiculous amount of injuries this season and honestly, they have lost too many guys to list. The “next man up” mentality has served the team well, but there is no replacing a guy like deGrom.

On the bright side, the Mets beat the Cubs 6-3 with six different relievers combining for six innings of three-run ball. Despite the rash of injuries for the Mets this year, they are comfortable atop the National League East. Luis Rojas’ club has a five-game lead over the second-place Philadelphia Phillies, the largest division lead in all of MLB.

New York will try to close out the Cubs with a sweep on Thursday night (7:10 p.m. ET) before they head down to Washington D.C. for a weekend series with the Nationals.