As the Mets wake up to find the Braves now tied with them for the lead in the NL East, they also found some more bad news to pile on to what has been a rough September.
New York placed ace Max Scherzer on the 15-day injured list with what the team called a "left oblique irritation." Scherzer left his start on Saturday against the Nationals after allowing just one run on three hits and a walk over five innings with five strikeouts.
The loss of Scherzer is a major blow to a team that has been reeling late in the season. Scherzer has pitched at his usual Cy Young self through the 2022 campaign. In 20 starts, he has a 2.26 ERA with 153 strikeouts in 127.2 innings of work. If Scherzer qualified for the ERA title, his 2.26 ERA would lead the National League and be the fourth-lowest in the majors.
New York entered June with a 10.5 game lead in the NL East, but has seen it gradually slip away as the Braves have gone on another summer hot streak, as they did in 2021. The Mets lost a series against the Nationals, who entered the month with the worst record in baseball, to begin September and dropped the opening game against the NL Central bottom-dwelling Pirates.
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In August, the Mets won the third-most games in baseball at 19, but the Braves were right behind them with 18 wins. Atlanta has won all five games so far in September, while New York has gone 2-3.
Here's the latest on Scherzer's injury, and what it means for the rest of the season.
How long is Max Scherzer out?
The Mets placed Scherzer on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to Sunday. That means the earliest he will be able to return would be Sept. 19.
MLB.com's Anthony DiComo reported the Mets expect to be able to active Scherzer from the injured list as soon as he is eligible, indicating the move was likely more precautionary as New York prepares for the postseason.
"All things considered, I think it's best to get that completely healed again," Buck Showalter said, per DiComo.
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Scherzer was asked about the injured list stint, and he described it as "days, not weeks."
"This is not a significant injury," he told reporters. "This is more that I'm going to miss one start, we knew that and once the ball's out of my court, then the team's got to do what they got to do for roster moves. Because of the irritation on the side here, I'm not going to be able to make the start. They needed to get another arm up here and so that's why I'm going on the IL."
Max Scherzer says he feels "achy," but is not worried about his health over a long-term period:
— SNY (@SNYtv) September 7, 2022
"This is days, not weeks. This is not a significant injury." pic.twitter.com/gYft53dXDQ
Scherzer has already been on the injured list once this season, spending all of June out. He did not make any starts between May 18 and July 5 as he dealt with a left oblique strain.
Scherzer described the feeling for this trip to the injured list as just "achy" in his left side. He said it is just general fatigue in his left side and that there's not one specific spot where he is feeling any issues.
"The first time when I did this, I had one specific spot. That's not what this is. That's the good news," Scherzer said. "I communicated my symptoms and we kind of had conflicting symptoms throughout the game and I felt fatigued, but I was still out there throwing the ball well and went as far as I could. I have no regrets on how I handled the situation."
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Mets pitching depth
Without Scherzer, the pitching depth for New York starts to take a bit of a hit, though they certainly have several arms to which to turn in his absence. The top of the rotation will remain Jacob deGrom, Carlos Carrasco, Chris Bassitt and Taijuan Walker.
In place of Scherzer, the Mets are likely to turn to either David Peterson or Trevor Williams.
Peterson has made 21 appearances, 17 starts, this season for the Mets and has pitched to a 3.32 ERA in 95 innings with 110 strikeouts, 41 walks and a WHIP of 1.305.
Williams, who spent the first five years of his big league career as a regular starter, has been used primarily as a reliever in the 2022 season, making only nine starts in 24 appearances. He has found success in his first full campaign with New York, however, delivering a 2.92 ERA in 74 innings with 64 strikeouts, 21 walks and a 1.203 WHIP.
