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Mets ace Jacob deGrom plays catch at Citi Field after MRI comes back clean

NEW YORK — Jacob deGrom was seen playing catch at Citi Field on Saturday afternoon, just hours removed from the right flexor tendinitis that sent Mets fans into a flurry of panic. DeGrom underwent an MRI that did not show any additional damage, meaning that as of now, he is still on track to pitch on Wednesday.

“He came in today and said he was fine,” Mets manager Luis Rojas opened in his Saturday pregame media availability. “We did the MRI this morning just out of precaution. It came back as we expected: clean. We’re just taking it day-by-day.”

DeGrom left Friday night’s win over the Padres after six innings and just 80 pitches, which set off alarm bells.

The two-time Cy Young winner told reporters after the game, though, that he thought he would be fine.

“I’m not too concerned about it because it didn’t get much worse as the game went on,” deGrom said of the tendinitis. “In the sixth inning when I was trying to loosen up, I could feel it. It was tightening up a little bit.”

He said the injury didn’t feel anything like when he dealt with a ligament tear early in his big league career.

Rojas also tried to project confidence that his superstar ace would be just fine.

“I’m not concerned either, because Jake is not,” Rojas said. “This is a guy that knows his body really well. I’m glad that he was honest. We already went through a stint with him (on the IL), and we did that because he said how he was feeling.”

DeGrom lowered his ERA to a 0.56 — the lowest in baseball history through a pitcher’s first 10 starts — after blanking San Diego for six innings in the Mets’ 3-2 win. The sweet-swinging pitcher also plated two runs with a fifth inning single. He now has more RBIs (5) as a hitter than he does earned runs allowed (4) on the season.