Earlier in the season, Jacob deGrom landed on the IL with tightness in his right side. Since coming off the IL, deGrom has left games for various reasons.

There was fatigue. There was a flexor tendon issue. The latest was his leaving a game with a shoulder issue. Overall, since that IL stint, it needs to be reiterated deGrom has left starts for reasons other than he hit his pitch count, and it was time to bring in a reliever.

With that being the case, everyone has a theory on what the issue is and how to handle it. He has too much velocity. He didn’t heal and is pushing it. As usual, there was Dr. Sal Licata with his input saying deGrom never should’ve made the start:

Should Jacob deGrom have even made Wednesday's start vs. the Cubs?@sal_licata discusses it on @GEICO SportsNite pic.twitter.com/xBMBRdvYGF

— SNY (@SNYtv) June 17, 2021

Actually, no, Licata doesn’t have an MD. The same goes for people like Chris Carlin, who proffered similar advice. Really, anyone rendering an opinion has the same level of medical expertise as Jeff Wilpon, which is to say they have none. As we saw with Wilpon, when people with zero medical expertise renders an opinion on what should be done, bad things happen.

On that note, there is something to be said for what Pedro Martinez said. Remember, Pedro was once what deGrom is now, and we did see Pedro’s prime and career shortened due to injuries. When he speaks, it should carry weight.

It’s unfortunate for DeGrom to have left tonight’s game. The @Mets cannot afford to lose him for the rest of the season. I would just rest him for an outing or two

— Pedro Martinez (@45PedroMartinez) June 17, 2021

Pedro’s advice was rest, and while his words should be heard, it’s not dispositive. Really, nothing is right now.

At this moment in time, no one knows what’s wrong. We don’t know if these injuries are all linked by one core problem, if one injury begat the other, or if these are just three isolated injuries which happened.

No one knows, and those offering advice are just trying to get heard and sound smart. Well, everyone except Pedro, who is someone speaking from experience.

To the question of how to keep deGrom healthy, the answer is no one knows. If they did, he wouldn’t be dealing with different issues right now. That said, someone will figure it out, and everyone will go on from there.

Overall, just be patient and wait with baited breath until we find out what’s wrong and how to best address it. Hopefully, sometime soon, we’ll see deGrom back out there pushing for a third Cy Young and leading the Mets to the World Series.