Mets ace Jacob deGrom leaves start early with right shoulder soreness

Mets ace Jacob deGrom left Wednesday evening’s start after three innings due to right shoulder soreness, the team announced, via SNY's Steve Gelbs. Sean Reid-Foley replaced him to start the fourth frame.

It’s the second consecutive start in which deGrom has been forced out prematurely. Right flexor tendinitis knocked him out of his start last Friday. But deGrom didn’t sound particularly concerned after that outing, and an intervening MRI came back clean. Nevertheless, it’s certainly alarming to see the game’s best pitcher removed early due to injury in back-to-back outings. deGrom also missed a couple of weeks last month due to right side tightness, so he’s now dealt with side, forearm and shoulder issues this year.

As usual, deGrom was incredible before he exited. He struck out eight of nine Cubs hitters across three perfect innings. The outing dropped his ERA to an unfathomable 0.54 in 67 innings on the year.