Alderson: DeGrom's UCL injury 'resolved itself'

New York Mets president Sandy Alderson said Tuesday that ace right-hander Jacob deGrom's elbow injury was a UCL sprain/partial tear, though it's apparently healed on its own.

"A sprain is the lowest-grade partial tear, if you will," Alderson said. "At this point, the sprain has resolved itself. The elbow is, at this point, perfectly intact based on the MRIs and our clinical evaluations through our doctors."

Despite the improved prognosis, Alderson didn't provide a timeline for deGrom's potential return to the rotation. The club plans to increase his activity to see if he can pitch pain-free.

"That doesn't mean we're going to ramp him up until it breaks - that's not my point," Alderson said, according to SNY. "My point is we need to begin to see whether this is more of a chronic issue that relates to mechanics in some way. But the more we know going into next season, the better off we'll be."

DeGrom is eligible to be reinstated from the IL on Monday, Sept. 13, but it's not guaranteed that he'll pitch again in 2021.

"I think that's still very much up in the air," Alderson said.

The 33-year-old deGrom hasn't pitched since July 7 due to the injury. Prior to that, he was enjoying one of the most dominant pitching seasons in baseball history, having gone 7-2 with a 1.08 ERA, 0.55 WHIP, and 146 strikeouts in 92 innings.