Jacob deGrom leaves game early after line drive strikes his arm, back

In the midst of pitching a gem against the lowly Phillies this evening, Jacob deGrom was struck by a line drive that left the bat of Mikael Franco at 99 miles per hour and appeared to hit the upper back part of his right arm and then his back. deGrom did not appear to be in significant pain, but it’s understandable that the Mets would want him out of the game no matter how he felt after that sort of thing.

In a season that has seen the vast majority of the Mets’ rotation injured, struggling, or both, deGrom has undoubtedly been the team’s ace. At the moment, he has a 3.21 ERA and 3.53 FIP in 151.1 innings over 23 starts on the season. He left the game tonight with two runners on base after striking out nine, walking none, and giving up just four hits in six-and-two-thirds innings.