New York Mets right-hander Jacob deGrom will indeed need surgery to repair ulnar nerve damage in his pitching elbow.
According to a report by Adam Rubin of ESPN on Tuesday, deGrom will undergo the procedure later this week and has an estimated recovery timetable of three months. Rubin also adds that doctors will move the ulnar nerve to help relieve the elbow pain and finger numbness that deGrom has been experiencing, but that he expects to be ready in time for spring training.
Mets manager Sandy Alderson had already alluded to a shutdown over the weekend after the 28-year-old was scratched from a scheduled start on Sunday, and now this latest development confirms it.
deGrom finishes the 2016 campaign with a 7-8 record, a 3.04 ERA, and 143 strikeouts in 24 starts. The Mets are clinging to the first Wild Card spot in the National League, but they now have a rotation of skin and bones with Matt Harvey also done for the season, Steven Matz in the midst of a month-long absence, and Zack Wheeler still recovering from Tommy John surgery.
