In July, New York Mets starter Jacob deGrom experienced tightness in his forearm and was placed on the injured list in July. DeGrom also had several MRIs performed on his arm and eventually was shut down for the remainder of the 2021 season later in the summer.
Now, deGrom is saying that he believes that the arm discomfort that ended his season is a result to the positioning of his arm in the MRI tube. In an interview with MLB.com, deGrom explained that he had to raise his already injured arm for almost one hour at a time, which he thinks hurt the arm even more.
Via MLB.com:
“Although the MRI revealed nothing more than a mild forearm strain, deGrom’s arm discomfort spread from his forearm to elbow in the ensuing days. He believes now that the positioning of his arm in that MRI tube — he laid on his stomach with his elbow raised above him for nearly an hour — exacerbated the issue.
‘I honestly think that’s what aggravated it,’ he said.”
Following the MRI that took place in Pittsburgh, deGrom also underwent another follow-up MRI in New York that showed inflammation around his UCL. At the time, Mets president Sandy Alderson revealed that it was a partial ligament tear. After the inflammation went down, three orthopedists examined deGrom and said that his ligament was completely intact.
Two weeks later, deGrom had his fourth MRI conducted in less than a two-month period. That MRI came back clean and deGrom was allowed resume throwing in late August, which he ended up doing. Once the Mets fell out of the playoff race, the team decided to shut down deGrom for the season.
In 15 starts this past season, deGrom accumulated a 7-2 record to go along with a 1.08 ERA and 146 strikeouts. The Mets pitcher was the National League Cy Young frontrunner prior to his arm injury.
