The Mets have gone through the wringer this season. The club has fallen three games below .500 (17-20) with injuries continuing to pile up.
Max Scherzer is the latest victim of the injury bug. The 39-year-old was scratched from the Mets’ 7-6 loss to the Reds in Cincinnati on Tuesday due to neck spasms.
“There’s really nothing you can do for it other than rest,” Scherzer said before Tuesday’s game. “It’s going to be a couple of days, but that’s the good news, that it’s only going to be a couple of days.”
The neck spasms are nothing new for the three-time Cy Young award winner. He was scratched from Game 5 of the 2019 World Series due to the issue.
“I get neck spasms from time to time,” Scherzer said. “I have to do a series of neck exercises in order to kind of keep this away and I’ve done a pretty good job of that. But come time to time, this can creep up on me and unfortunately, I ran into a bad time to have it happen.
“It’s easy to be frustrated by it, but at the end of the day, there’s nothing I did. It wasn’t like I’m doing something stupid or something like that I literally just did my workouts and could feel it coming on. [I] tried to get in front of it and then I didn’t. It blew up on me. There’s literally zero to regret. There’s no second-guessing of anything I’ve done. It just happened.”
Scherzer is off to a rough start to the season posting a 5.56 ERA in five starts. This is not the Amazins’ first stint without Scherzer this season as the righty also missed time due to a 10-game sticky stuff suspension.
The veteran is also no stranger to injuries during his time with the Mets as he missed a month and a half last season with an oblique injury in his first season of the three-year, $130 million contract he agreed to in November 2021.
For now, Scherzer remains off of the injured list and hopes to be back on a mound after a few days of rest.
“I’m better today than I was [Monday]. That’s the good [news],” he said. “That’s what gives me confidence that this is only going to be a day or two. And so, I should be back out there pretty soon, but I’ve got to be able to come in and play catch at a good clip before I can get that thumbs-up.”
Carlos Carrasco completed his first rehab outing on Tuesday night in Binghamton for the Mets’ Double-A affiliate Rumble Ponies. The right-hander tossed three innings allowing just one run while striking out one against the Hartford Yard Goats.
“Everything came out really good. All the breaking balls, especially the changeup,” Carrasco said Tuesday. “I was looking for my delivery and I found it…
“I’m ready [to return to the Mets], but I’m not going to make that decision. I’ll hear from them what’s the next step and we’ll go from there.”
The veteran has been rehabbing from a right elbow inflammation caused by a bone spur. The 37-year-old’s rehab was delayed a bit due to a stomach virus, however, he now appears on track to join the Mets in the coming days.
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