ATLANTA (AP) — Jacob deGrom returned to the New York Mets on Saturday and says all is well with his infant son, Jaxon, following a scare the pitcher revealed was a breathing problem.
DeGrom will start Sunday against the Atlanta Braves after missing one turn because of a sore right lat muscle and another start due to his son's health concern.
DeGrom says his son had a form of apnea that caused him to stop breathing after falling asleep.
"It was definitely scary," deGrom said. "He had to be checked into the NICU and they had to monitor him in there but when all the tests came back and nothing was seriously wrong we were pretty relieved. But at first it was a scary time."
Concerns were relieved after Jaxon was monitored for five consecutive nights without the problem recurring. The baby is home with deGrom's wife, Stacy.
"The doctors said they go looking for problems but you don't really want to find any," deGrom said. "And luckily they didn't find any. He's doing great now."
Now deGrom's new concern is learning how to change diapers.
"That I'm still struggling with!" he said.
Manager Terry Collins said deGrom may be limited to 85 pitches on Sunday. DeGrom threw 71 pitches in a simulated game in Florida on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, outfielder Yoenis Cespedes is not playing in Saturday night's game against the Braves after aggravating his bruised right leg while sliding into second with a double in Friday night's game. He left the game an inning later.
Collins said Cespedes may be held out more than one day.
"I'm concerned that it might be, yeah," Collins said. "The bruise is pretty big. It's looking pretty bad."
