LEADING OFF: DeGrom down for bit, Soto eases back, Ohtani up

A look at what's happening around the majors today:

___

DEJINXED

The Mets will see how ace Jacob deGrom fares this week after being scratched from his scheduled start Tuesday at St. Louis when he had trouble getting loose during a pregame stretch. The game was rained out and will be made up Wednesday as part of a single-admission doubleheader.

The team said deGrom had inflammation in his right lat and wouldn't throw for the next few days.

The two-time NL Cy Young Award winner has been baseball’s most dominant pitcher this season, with a major league-best 0.51 ERA in five starts, 59 strikeouts in 35 innings and just four walks.

Still, he is just 2-2 as New York continues to have trouble scoring runs for him.

TAKE IT EASY

NL batting champion Juan Soto will be limited to pinch-hitting duty for now with Washington after coming off the injured list.

Soto missed 10 games with a strained left shoulder and wasn’t in the starting lineup Tuesday night against Atlanta. Manager Dave Martinez said the injury no longer bothers Soto while hitting, but he is not yet ready to play the outfield.

Soto was hitting .300 with two homers and eight RBIs in 14 games before getting hurt. He hit an NL-best .351 in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

Martinez did not provide a timetable for when Soto would return to right field but said he likely would be the designated hitter during this weekend’s interleague series at Yankee Stadium.

SHO-TIME

Shohei Ohtani (1-0, 3.29 ERA) makes his fourth start on the mound this season for the Los Angeles Angels after a two-day delay because he got hit on the right elbow by a fastball in Seattle last Sunday. The two-way star is also expected to hit against the AL champion Rays.

WHO’S OUT FIRST?

Hours after...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/LEADING-OFF-DeGrom-down-for-bit-Soto-eases-16152402.php