New York Mets will be missing Max Scherzer for some time

It was easy to assume the worst on Wednesday night. Max Scherzer took himself out of the game with two outs in the sixth inning, indicating that he was injured. As the New York Mets‘ pitcher is known for his durability and determination to pitch as long as possible, the fact that he left the game in the middle of an at bat was a major concern.

Now the Mets have an idea as to what they are looking at. According to Jon Heyman, Scherzer is dealing with an oblique injury. Anthony DiComo of MLB.com added that Scherzer will be out for at least six to eight weeks.

New York Mets lose another key piece of rotation with Max Scherzer

Scherzer had been everything that the Mets had hoped for prior to exiting his outing on Wednesday. He had posted a 2.54 ERA and a 0.946 WHiP in his 49.2 innings, striking out 59 batters with 11 walks. His presence atop the rotation had helped to minimize the loss of Jacob deGrom at the beginning of the season.

Now the Mets have a larger issue. Both deGrom and Scherzer are out, and while there is positive news about deGrom’s recovery, he is not expected to be back until July. Tylor Megill is also injured, putting further pressure on the rest of the Mets’ rotation. Chris Bassitt becomes the de facto ace as the Mets’ depth will be tested once again.

This is what the Mets were hoping to avoid. Scherzer has been a workhorse, throwing at least 170 innings every season since 2009. He was the type of arm they needed, someone that could go out and dominate while giving the bullpen a needed rest as he took the ball every fifth day.

The issue is that Scherzer is going to turn 38 years old this year. Eventually, even those workhorses run out of steam and cannot go as long as they used to. The Mets have to hope this is not the beginning of that scenario, that Scherzer can come back and continue to be that dominating force for 30+ starts that he had been in years past.

The New York Mets will be without Max Scherzer for at least six to eight weeks. This is not an injury they can afford at this point.