MLB News: deGrom Dominates First Rehab Start, Yankees Put Marinaccio On Injured List, More

deGrom Strikes Out Five In First Rehab Start Of Season

There’s no timeline on his return, but the NL East-leading New York Mets will be significantly scarier when they get two-time NL Cy Young winner Jacob deGrom back on the mound.

The good news? deGrom — who has yet to play this season due to a stress reaction in his right shoulder — enjoyed a significant step of progress on Sunday by dominating in his rehab start for the St. Lucie Mets of the Single-A Florida State League.

The 34-year-old took to the mound on Sunday against the Jupiter Hammerheads, and the four-time All-Star showed very little rust in his brief outing. deGrom struck out five of the six batters he faced in 1 2/3 innings pitched.

“I felt like I had control of everything — the main thing was trying to locate the fastball and pitch off that. Everything felt good,” deGrom said after the game, per MLB.com. “(My shoulder) feels 100 percent. Because it was bone… you can’t really push it. I had to wait until the bone was healed and move forward from there.”

The Mets are one of the prime favorites to win the World Series at New York sports betting apps. They have the fourth-best odds at FanDuel (+700), and are only behind the New York Yankees (+400), Los Angeles Dodgers (+400) and Houston Astros (+550) at DraftKings. There, the Mets are listed at +750.

Sports fans in New York can take advantage of several promo codes that are being offered to new customers. This includes a $1,500 risk-free bet from Caesars and a “No Sweat First Bet”  of $1,000 from FanDuel.

Atlanta is coming off a scorching-hot month of June, and the defending World Series champions have closed the gap with the Mets for the NL East lead. There’s plenty of baseball to be played, but at the very least, the Mets are a virtual lock to claim one of the six playoffs spots in the new expanded postseason field.

Yankees Place Reliever Ron Marinaccio On IL

The team with the best record in all of baseball by a wide margin will have to get by without one of the top weapons in their stacked bullpen.

On Sunday, the Yankees placed reliever Ron Marinaccio on the injured list with shoulder inflammation. Marinaccio experienced it on Saturday against the Cleveland Guardians, and he was removed after one inning pitched.

In 17 game appearances, the 27-year-old Marinaccio has posted a superb 2.33 ERA with 23 strikeouts against 10 walks. Marinaccio has coughed up just five earned runs, and opponents are batting just .108 off of the Toms River, New Jersey native.

Barring a historic second-half collapse, the Yankees will cruise to their first AL East division title since 2019. At this point, the real question is if they’ll match or surpass the win total of the dream 1998 Yankees squad that went 114-48 en route to a World Series Championship.

Juan Soto Open To Signing New Deal With Nationals

The contract status and long-term future of Washington Nationals superstar and franchise face Juan Soto has been widely talked-about in recent months, even though he can’t hit free agency until 2024.

Such is life when you’re one of the game’s elite young stars. The 23-year-old, viewed by many as the best hitter in the game, is already a World Series champion with two All-MLB First Team selections and a pair of Silver Slugger Awards on his résumé.

Soto sounded off on his contract status during an interview with Jesse Dougherty of The Washington Post, emphasizing that he is open to signing a new deal rather than test the 2024 free agent market.

The Lerner family is expected to sell the Nationals franchise at some point in the not-so-distant future. Many are wondering if the Lerners — who certainly haven’t been shy in handing out lucrative contracts to star players — would pay Soto top dollar before selling the franchise.

Or, will the Lerners sell beforehand and allow new Nationals ownership to discuss a contract extension with Soto, which at this rate will likely exceed $400 million? It’s an enticing storyline to follow, to say the least.

Soto reportedly turned down a $350 million extension over 13 years, per Dougherty.

Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout holds the record for the largest MLB contract ever signed. In 2019, he signed a 12-year pact worth $426.5 million. If Soto continues to play at an MVP-like level, he could very well surpass the $426.5 million value that Trout received from LA.

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