Jacob deGrom is back at Citi Field and inching closer to throwing bullpens

SAN FRANCISCO – Jacob deGrom is back at Citi Field, and his rehab is beginning to get serious.

The Mets ace is still long tossing, but he has shifted his rehab from Port St. Lucie to Queens so he can soon be under the supervision of Mets pitching coach Jeremy Hefner and other team officials.

“The intensity is starting to climb now,” Hefner said on Tuesday at Oracle Park. “We want to have eyes on him as we progress towards bullpens – not that the people in Port St. Lucie can’t do that – but once he’s starting bullpens, he can do that with me and we can bring him into that routine.”

DeGrom (stress reaction in right scapula) has increased his long-toss distance to around 90-105 feet. His next step will include getting back on a mound and then throwing bullpens. It’s possible deGrom can progress to that step as soon as this weekend, Hefner said.

As he advances toward bullpens and continues to build up his pitch count, it is possible, if not likely, that deGrom will join the team on its next road trip – 10 games in 11 days at the Dodgers, Padres and Angels – that begins on June 2. After that, deGrom will throw live BP and face hitters. His final step before rejoining the rotation will be starting minor-league rehab outings, but the Mets have not placed a timeline on when that step could happen.

“It’s not as scripted,” Hefner said. “It’s more about how he’s feeling. He has heavy days and then low days. And then we’re repeating those until he feels really good at some distance.”

Hefner said deGrom, once he’s back on a mound, will go through a ramp-up that is “pretty similar” to a normal spring training progression. But that doesn’t necessarily mean he will need six weeks from that point to return, either. The Mets are basing his growth entirely on how he feels once he adds more workload.

In other words, the timeline for deGrom’s return has not changed just because he’s back at Citi Field. A late June or early July return still seems plausible. And it remains encouraging that, seven and half weeks since he was shut down from throwing, deGrom is still on track in his recovery. Hefner is looking forward to touching base with the two-time Cy Young winner and seeing him throw long toss in person.

“I’ve only seen him throwing on my phone,” Hefner laughed.

Mets fans can relate.

WHAT A RELIEF

Trevor May (triceps strain) tweeted on Tuesday that he is “crushing rehab” and that he’s looking forward to contributing to the Mets’ success, which hasn’t hit a speed bump despite multiple team injury hits.

“My body feels like it’s moving better, and is stronger, than it’s been in a minute,” May tweeted. “The arm feels way better and we’re quickly approaching imaging to see if we’re good to ramp up.”

Hefner echoed May, adding that he’s encouraged the right-handed reliever is advancing through his rehab. May has been on the injured list since early this month. He is shut down from throwing for four weeks while the stress reaction on his triceps continues to heal. May will get the green light to begin baseball activity once he goes for another MRI, which is still expected to take place in the next week or so.

“He’s doing everything he could possibly do to get his body ready to start throwing, whenever that is,” Hefner said.

ANOTHER SPOT START

The Mets are still leaning toward starting Thomas Szapucki for Wednesday’s series finale against the Giants, but they are refraining from publicly announcing their pitching plans for now. Szapucki joined the club at Oracle Park on Tuesday. The left-hander posted a 2.86 ERA over seven starts and 22 innings for Triple-A Syracuse this season.

Szapucki has impressed Hefner with his fastball command and 30 strikeouts in the minors to begin the season. But the southpaw has not thrown more than five innings in any of his seven starts, so the Mets will be better off with a rested bullpen on Wednesday.