2022 NL Cy Young Award odds: Max Scherzer will miss extended time with oblique injury as Mets' rotation takes another hit

The New York Mets have been without two-time Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom at all this season and probably won't have him back until mid-June at the earliest. The Mets are now bracing for more bad news as three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer reportedly has an oblique injury after leaving his start Wednesday vs. St. Louis with discomfort in his left side. While some sportsbooks have taken NL Cy Young odds down until Scherzer's timetable is clearer, FanDuel has him as the +550 second favorite to Milwaukee's Corbin Burnes (the 2021 winner).

Scherzer left with two outs in the sixth inning Wednesday and a 1-1 count on fellow future Hall-of-Famer Albert Pujols. With two runners on, Scherzer threw a slider in the dirt and immediately signaled to the New York bench that he was done.

"Just felt a zing on my left side and just knew I was done," he said. "When I felt it, I just knew there's no way you can throw another pitch, so just get out of there. … I was kind of tight and then all of a sudden it went. But I don't feel like I really ripped it. It just kind of got worse. So hopefully I got out of there quick enough to prevent a major injury here because I know oblique, intercostal, those things can be nasty. Hopefully I avoided a serious injury."

Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports that Scherzer "does indeed have an oblique injury." Other than an arm or shoulder injury, oblique issues can be some of the most troublesome ailments for a pitcher because of all the torque involved in throwing a baseball. Even Grade 1 oblique strains (the lowest kind) can sideline players for upwards of a month. The team has not officially announced the diagnosis as of this writing as they're waiting on doctors to read the results. Update: The MRI showed a moderate to high grade internal oblique strain, and Scherzer is expected to miss 6-8 weeks.  

The 37-year-old Scherzer, the highest-paid pitcher in MLB history by average annual value ($43.3 million), is 5-1 with a 2.54 ERA, 0.95 WHIP and 59 strikeouts in 49.2 innings. He has a stellar 30.6 percent strikeout rate against a 5.7 percent walk rate.

Another Mets starting pitcher, Tylor Megill (+8000 to win Cy Young), recently landed on the 15-day injured list with right biceps inflammation but an MRI showed no structural damage. Still, he's likely to miss more than the minimum 15 days. Megill was off to a spectacular start to the year before being shelled for eight runs in 1.2 innings last Wednesday in Washington.

It's a good thing that the Mets have a comfortable lead in the NL East and are the only team in the division above .500, because their rotation for the foreseeable future is composed of Chris Bassitt (started this afternoon vs. St. Louis), Carlos Carrasco, Taijuan Walker and then TBA. The team has to visit hitter-friendly Colorado this weekend with Carrasco scheduled to start on Friday, TBA on Saturday, and Walker on Sunday. 

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