New York Mets: Gabriel Ynoa to Replace Injured Jacob deGrom

On a day that the New York Mets get some bad news about Jacob deGrom, Curtis Granderson delivers twice in a come from behind extra innings victory to keep pace with the Giants in the Wild Card standings. Untested rookie Gabriel Ynoa makes the start today replacing deGrom

These days, the New York Mets seem bent on borrowing the “We Shall Overcome” phrase from the civil rights movement. Because even as Jacob deGrom feels a “twinge” in his elbow while tossing a fly ball back during batting practice and is likely lost for the season, Curtis Granderson sets a Mets record with two come from behind home runs to give the Mets a 12-inning 3-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Saturday.

The victory means that the Mets keep pace with the Giants in the Wild Card Standings. Both teams hold a slim two game lead over the Cardinals who wrap up their series against the Giants this afternoon in St. Louis.

The stunning injury to deGrom marks a 180 degree turnaround from the day before when he threw a bullpen session with good results causing the Mets to announce he would start the final game against the Twins Sunday afternoon.

Perhaps erring on the side of caution this time, the Mets are saying that it is unlikely that deGrom will be seen on the mound again for the remainder of the season, including the playoffs. Reports indicate that deGrom will require elbow surgery and rehab over the winter. This means he will join the world of the Mets “pitching ifs” for 2017 along with Matt Harvey, who according to NJ.com is “progressing slowly” in his rehab from surgery, and Zach Wheeler, who has already suffered at least two false starts in his comeback from arm surgery. Depending on what happens with Steven Matz over the next week or so, that list could grow even more.

But like Terry Collins always says (paraphrasing), you concentrate on the guys in uniform and not the ones who are not. You expect that if your players are suited up, then they are major league ballplayers and you run them out there expecting them to perform at that level.

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As always though, the only game that counts is the one that’s being played today and on that score the weatherman may play a role as thunderstorms are predicted in New York throughout this afternoon. A scheduling nightmare would ensue for MLB if the game has to be postponed because the Twins and Mets are done for the year after this one. Assuming the game has meaning in the final standings, and it’s highly likely that it would, the game would need to be played after the regular season has ended.

No one wants that, so we can assume that the game will start at midnight if need be. Adding extra intrigue is the fact that Gabriel Ynoa (yeah me too, who?) will start for the Mets to replace the injured deGrom. This will be the first major league start for Ynoa. He is listed as Number 18 on the Mets top prospect list.

But rest assured, as Collins said, if he’s wearing a Mets uniform today then he’s qualified and expected to perform as a major league pitcher.

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Nevertheless, the team will be looking for today’s picker-upper to perform like Granderson did yesterday. The way things are going, it’s not unlikely that a different Met will emerge to grab the back page headlines on Monday.

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