Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom left his start Sunday before the sixth inning and has been placed on the IL with right side tightness. Kathy Willens/Associated Press

NEW YORK — Jacob deGrom will be placed on the injured list by the New York Mets with tightness in his right side, a move that will keep the ace from taking the mound until May 20 at the earliest.

The Mets said an MRI on Sunday night was “clean of any issues.” The team said it will place deGrom on the injured list before Tuesday’s series opener against Baltimore, a move that will be retroactive to Monday.

A 32-year-old right-hander, deGrom is 3-2 with a a major league-best 0.68 ERA and 65 strikeouts, two behind Trevor Bauer of the Los Angeles Dodgers for the NL lead. DeGrom has seven walks in 40 innings over six starts. He pulled himself from Sunday’s outing against Arizona, his first appearance after skipping a start due to discomfort in his right latissimus dorsi, a back muscle that connects the upper arm to the spine and the hip.

The two-time NL Cy Young Award winner threw 68 pitches over five innings against Arizona, allowing one run, but he called for trainer Brian Chicklo when he felt tightness trying to get loose before the sixth. He left with Chicklo and went straight to the clubhouse. DeGrom struck out six and allowed one hit. He was perfect through four innings before struggling in the fifth, when he allowed a run and walked three in an inning for just the second time in his big league career, the first since May 13, 2018, at Philadelphia. He left one inning in that game, his return from the injured list.

DeGrom is baseball’s hardest-throwing starting pitcher, with 79 pitches of 100 mph or higher since the start of the 2020 season, according to MLB Statcast. Miami’s Sixto Sánchez in second with 13.

PIRATES: Two-time All-Star infielder Todd Frazier was designated for assignment by the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday after hitting .086 in 13 games.

Frazier, 35, had just three hits in 35 at-bats with no home runs and four RBI. The Pirates made the move to open a roster spot for outfielder Ben Gamel, who was claimed off waivers Sunday from the Cleveland Indians.

The Pirates signed Frazier to a minor league contract after he spent last year’s pandemic-shortened season with the Texas Rangers and New York Mets. The 11-year veteran has a .241 career batting average with 218 home runs.


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