Max Scherzer Out 6 to 8 Weeks with Oblique Injury

 Max Scherzer will miss the next 6 to 8 weeks with an oblique strain, according to official word from the New York Mets. 

Scherzer injured the oblique on Wednesday night against the St. Louis Cardinals when he threw a pitch to Albert Pujols in the sixth inning of the Mets 11-4 victory. 

Scherzer said later he felt a "zing" on the left side of his body and immediately motioned to the dugout to take him out of the game. The 37-year old pitcher minced no words when he described the situation that he wanted to get out of the game right away to prevent further injury. 

 

However oblique's are tricky and they require at least a month, and in Scherzer's case two months. This puts a huge crimp in the Mets plans moving forward. 

The Mets are already without Jacob deGrom who is healing from a shoulder injury he suffered in spring training. deGrom hasn't pitched in a year due to several arm issues. The guess is he'll be back by July, but really, who knows? 

Tylor Megill, who was tasked with replacing deGrom is now out with biceps tendonitis, and his return is up in the air as well. 

The Mets (25-14) are in trouble. They were off to a flying start to 2022, but with injuries stacking up, especially on the pitching front the Mets face a stiff challenge in the coming weeks. They will play 16 games on the west coast between this weekend and the first week of June. That will take them to Colorado, San Francisco, LA to play both the Dodgers and Angels, and San Diego. All of those teams (except Colorado) are playing well. All are playoff contenders. 

The Mets without Scherzer and deGrom could easily see all the momentum they established in the first six weeks disappear.