Jacob Degrom discusses rehabilitation for a shoulder blade injury

NEW YORK – All the evidence points to itJacob DegromHe is approaching a hill climb for the first time since March, which will mark his most significant test since he was diagnosed with a strain reaction in his right scapula at the end of spring training. If things continue to progress well, a reasonable schedule could be back in the Mets by late June or early July.

However, Degrom insists he is unaware of his schedule, and Mets officials – while offering relative transparency with other injured players – tend to talk about the status of the two-time Cy Young Award winner. All that is clear is that DeGrom is getting close, and that when he does eventually return to the Mets — whether in June, July or later — he won’t do so with any qualms of returning his shoulder.

“You can’t get out of there in fear,” Degrom said Saturday in his first public comment since early April. “Do your best to get ready and go out to play the game. I don’t think a lot of guys go out there and are afraid of getting hurt. You go in there and you compete, and you leave everything in there. I’m back from Tommy John in the minor leagues, and I think that was probably the biggest hurdle.”

This weekend, DeGrom was long flung at distances of up to 135 feet. The next logical step would be to throw a gaming session, as most shooters who rehab do once they clear 120 feet of flat ground. DeGrom said he intends to have that discussion with team officials in the coming days, but he hasn’t committed to a timetable for getting rid of the pile.

Degrom said that since mid-April, his shoulder has felt normal during daily activities. Doctors allowed him to start throwing in early May, and since then he’s ramped up the intensity of that program. He won’t need more MRIs or CT scans to progress through his rehabilitation program.

Degrom has not played in a league game since last July 7, due to a stress reaction in his shoulder and right elbow inflammation that cost him half of last season. but now?

“I feel completely normal,” he said. “So I guess that’s where it’s going to be, shall we push it? Right? That will be the debate for the next few days. And when we get to the pile, what is the safest way to do it?”

deGrom intends to take the side of caution for several reasons. One is that he believes that the intensification of Spring Rapid Training after seven months of inactivity contributed to his recent injury. The second is that the team is doing so well — so well, in fact, that he built the biggest team in baseball despite the major injuries to him and Max Scherzer. Relapse now can cost a degroom a long time. A slower intensification can help him stay healthy into October.

“That’s another thing – when you’re trying to decide whether to come back early or not, you kind of look at the long term,” Degrom said. “The team has been playing really well, and you want to be there until the end of the year. She is trying to walk that thin line of safety and not try to do it too quickly.”

During rehab in Florida, DeGrum “watched closely” how the Mets would have done without him. He moved his corrector to New York this week, another indication that he plans to start ramping up efforts soon. It is just the details of his schedule that remain in question.

Show team coach Jeremy Hefner recently stated that DeGrom will require three to five rehabs beginning in the Minors, and DeGrom confirmed this by saying he would need to stretch to at least four rounds. This is a process that will take weeks, putting DeGrom in line for a late-June return at the earliest.

“I have nothing [reservations]After talking to the doctors.” “Usually, the bones heal stronger. So the last report was good, and they said it was completely cured. Now, he just makes sure it handles the throw and nothing pops up. But the way it has gone so far, I feel great.”