New York Mets right-hander Max Scherzer is expected to miss six to eight weeks after suffering a "moderate to high grade" oblique strain during Wednesday night's start against the St. Louis Cardinals, the team announced Thursday.
Scherzer removed himself from the game with two outs in the sixth inning after feeling soreness on his left side with the hope of preventing a more serious injury.
"Just felt a zing on my left side and just knew I was done," Scherzer said Wednesday. "When I felt it, I just knew there's no way you can throw another pitch, so just get out of there."
The three-time Cy Young Award winner threw 61 of his 87 pitches Wednesday for strikes and left with a 6-2 lead against his hometown team. The Mets won 11-4. Scherzer was credited to the win to improve to 5-1 with a 2.54 ERA this season, his first with the Mets after signing a three-year, $130 million contract last offseason.
Scherzer is the latest pitcher to hit the injured list for the National League East-leading Mets. Former Cy Young award winner Jacob deGrom has yet to make a start this season due to a shoulder injury suffered in spring training and Tylor Megill was placed on the injured list with biceps tendinitis after compiling a 2.43 ERA through his first six starts of the season.
Mets manager Buck Showalter said Thursday that Scherzer was dealing with multiple blisters on his pitching hand during his past two starts.
"That's one of the reasons he was really struggling with his breaking ball and couldn't command it," Showalter said. "Because he was trying to keep that from ripping open again."
David Peterson probably will be called up from Triple-A Syracuse to join a rotation that includes Chris Bassitt (4-2 2.34), Carlos Carrasco (3-1, 3.73) and Taijuan Walker (1-0, 3.52).
"It's a great opportunity for guys that we're talking about bringing in here,'' Showalter added. "Got some guys that will meet us in Denver and try to hold fort.."
Peterson, a 26-year-old left-hander, is 1-0 with 1.89 ERA in three starts and one relief appearance for the Mets this season and 2-1 with a 4.02 ERA in three starts at Triple-A.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.