It’s Opening Day, yet the baseball gods seem to always find a way to annoy New York Mets fans.
On Thursday, before the team took the field to face the Miami Marlins, the Mets’ official Twitter account announced that Justin Verlander would be starting the season on the injured list with a low grade teres major strain.
The silver lining is that he will continue throwing “at moderate intensity” and be reevaluated in a week.
Justin Verlander will be placed on the IL with a low grade teres major strain. He will continue throwing at moderate intensity and we will rescan in a week. We will provide an update at that time.
— New York Mets (@Mets) March 30, 2023
The Mets went out and signed Verlander when it became clear their own ace, Jacob deGrom, was signing a commitment longer than the team felt comfortable with.
deGrom is seen as a huge injury risk, having suffered a myriad of ailments since 2021.
The Mets probably thought Verlander was less of a health risk.
They may have been correct, since he is fresh off a 175-inning season in which he won the Cy Young whereas deGrom pitched only 64.1 frames last year.
However, Verlander remains a 40-year-old pitcher coming off major elbow surgery rehab in 2020-21.
Verlander will be more durable than degrom they said. https://t.co/vO5FGWSF9K
— Dan Solo (@DanThe___Man) March 30, 2023
In the end, he took a two-year, $86 million deal, which seemed logical to the Mets.
He may be less of an injury risk than, say, deGrom, but he is still a risk.
The report claims the injury is minor, and it certainly looks that way.
Otherwise, the pitcher wouldn’t be throwing.
Fans are still disappointed, and it’s completely understandable.
1st Randle Hurt now Verlander smh 😬 pic.twitter.com/pbxvInGzzK
— Frankie Acevedo 📶 (@ace292325) March 30, 2023
I’m trying not to overreact over #Verlander but jeez, we can’t even make it to the first pitch without a setback. It’s like this franchise is cursed. Nevertheless. #LFGM. #Mets #MetsTwitter
— loumontana (@loumontana) March 30, 2023
I was offline for like 10 minutes and in that time Justin Verlander discovered a brand new armpit muscle and also injured it
— Lousy Smarch Madness (@scratchbomb) March 30, 2023
Hopefully, Verlander can make a swift recovery and be the pitcher the Mets, and fans, want him to be.
As long as his arm is in a good place physically, that shouldn’t be a problem.
NEXT:
Mets Reveal Unfortunate Justin Verlander Update On Opening Day
