Mets' Jacob deGrom throws 19-pitch bullpen session

Jacob deGrom hit a notable checkpoint in his injury recovery Saturday, as the Mets ace threw a 19-pitch bullpen session. GM Billy Eppler told reporters (including MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo) that deGrom threw only fastballs of “moderate intensity,” and deGrom will continue to build up his arm strength and readiness with more bullpen sessions in the coming days.

Between the planned program of these bullpens, live batting practice, and then three-to-five rehab starts in the minors, deGrom is tentatively scheduled to make his season debut in July. This timeline is still fluid, of course, given how Saturday's bullpen session marked the very first time deGrom has even pitched off a mound since March. Between a forearm issue that prematurely ended his 2021 season and then a stress reaction in his right shoulder during Spring Training, deGrom hasn’t pitched in a Major League game since July 7.

More on other injury situations around baseball…

• Max Muncy and Andrew Heaney began rehab assignments with the Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate in Oklahoma City, with both veterans in Saturday's starting lineup. Muncy was only placed on the 10-day IL on May 28, and given how he has been playing with a partial UCL tear since last October, it is a very promising sign to see him already on a rehab assignment, though it isn’t know how many games Muncy will play in Triple-A. Heaney seems likely to receive multiple rehab starts considering his longer stint on the injured list, as shoulder discomfort sidelined the left-handed back on April 20.
• Jack Flaherty is also set to start his own rehab assignment, as the Cardinals right-hander is scheduled to pitch Sunday for Double-A Springfield. Cards manager Oliver Marmol told MLB.com’s John Denton and other reporters that Flaherty will throw 40-to-45 pitches, and depending on his status following that outing, will then throw either 40-to-45 pitches or 55-to-60 pitches in his next rehab start. Shoulder problems have plagued Flaherty in each of the last two seasons, and he has yet to pitch in 2022 due to inflammation in his right shoulder during spring training.
• In other St. Louis injury news, Corey Dickerson made an early exit from the first game of the Cardinals’ doubleheader with the Cubs on Saturday. Dickerson was replaced in right field prior to the bottom of the second inning due to left calf discomfort, and it isn’t clear if the injury was triggered by anything in the game, as Dickerson had yet to make a play in the field or take an at-bat. After signing a one-year, $5M free agent deal with St. Louis in March, Dickerson has hit only .194/.245/.286 in his first 106 plate appearances, though he is coming off his best game of the season — Dickerson hit his first two home runs of 2022 in the Cardinals’ 14-5 victory over the Cubs on Friday.