David Chao, MD: Despite 'Good News,' Jacob deGrom Still Unlikely To Pitch Before All-Star Break

The good news is that an MRI indicates that Jacob deGrom has "continued healing in the scapula." The bad news is he is still a long ways off from pitching for the New York Mets. The best case timeline projects out to the All-Star break.

deGrom is allowed to progress with distance and velocity in his throwing program, but is not close to any work off the mound. Once he starts pitching in about a month, he would still need a month of build up, including rehab assignments, before he'll get a start for the Mets.

This is a continuation of last year's problems when we had escalating worries as the season progressed.

Since the problems didn't seem to be resolved, deGrom was panned with a low SICscore at the start of this season. This was based on his string of injuries that included shoulder tightness, elbow soreness, latissimus dorsi strain, partial UCL tear and now scapula stress reaction.

deGrom is a classic case of injuries begetting injuries. He has had previous UCL surgery. Until the root cause of the issues are identified, the problems may linger. Fortunately, the Mets are well stocked at pitcher and doing well.

Only time will tell, but it will still be a while before he is ready to pitch.