NEW YORK -- Seeking to maximize Jacob deGrom's starts down the stretch, the Mets are shifting their best pitcher forward in the rotation.

Following a team off-day Thursday, deGrom will start Friday against the Blue Jays on regular rest, rather than Saturday on what would have been his regular rotation turn. Seth Lugo, who would have pitched Friday, will move back to Saturday to throw on two extra days’ rest.

The move effectively guarantees deGrom four more starts. Should the Mets clinch a playoff berth before the final game of the season, however, the team could hold back deGrom for Game 1 of the best-of-three Wild Card Series.

“Jake is one of the best pitchers, if not the best pitcher, in the world,” manager Luis Rojas said. “The thing is keeping his routine. He likes to throw every five days.”

For the past three years, deGrom has thrown multiple bullpen sessions between starts -- a habit he adopted on a tip from Hall of Famer John Smoltz. He frequently credits that routine, as well as his daily year-round throwing program, for the velocity and command improvements that helped spark his run to two consecutive National League Cy Young Awards.

This year, deGrom and the Cubs' Yu Darvish are widely considered Cy Young co-favorites, though much can happen over the season’s final three weeks. Should deGrom indeed start four more times, it would increase his chances to become only the third pitcher in Major League history to win three straight Cy Young Awards (joining Greg Maddux and Randy Johnson).

“He’s on track,” Rojas said of deGrom’s altered schedule. “That’s what he likes. That’s what he prefers.”

A side benefit to the move is more rest for Lugo, who threw 81 pitches in his last outing -- his highest total in more than two years. Lugo said afterward that his legs feel strong and that his mechanics will be the key to avoiding fatigue.

Gsellman injured
Needing a long reliever in Tuesday’s 11-2 loss to the Orioles, the Mets called upon Robert Gsellman, who had spent the previous four weeks stretching out as a starting pitcher. He stayed on to throw a season-high 76 pitches, wincing as he delivered the last one.

That prompted a visit from the trainer and a premature exit for Gsellman, who hunched over several times in pain as he walked off the field. The Mets diagnosed Gsellman with a left oblique injury and expected to know more on Wednesday.

“Obviously a scary moment watching him walk off the mound there and bending in what clearly seemed like pain,” Rojas said. “I just saw him after the game and he’s moving better. He’s walking around. So we’ve got to see what we can find out about it.”

With the six-run performance, Gsellman’s ERA inflated to 9.64. Were it not for the injury, the Mets likely would have considered optioning the veteran right-hander to their alternate training site in Brooklyn. Now an assignment to the injured list seems more probable.

From the trainer’s room
Steven Matz struck out five batters over two innings in a simulated game Tuesday at the Mets’ alternate training site in Brooklyn, as he rehabs from a case of left shoulder bursitis.

Matz has been on the injured list since Aug. 30 due to his shoulder issue, which began bothering him when the Mets returned from their coronavirus hiatus late last month. The team was in the process of transitioning Matz from the rotation, where he posted a 14.66 ERA over his final three starts, to the bullpen.

Making his debut as a reliever on Aug. 29, Matz struck out two over a perfect inning at Yankee Stadium, but he departed after complaining of shoulder soreness.

Now that Matz’s return is on the horizon, he should be in position to bolster the relief corps. However, if Michael Wacha or David Peterson struggle in the rotation, Matz remains an option to replace them.

Not a platoon (but kind of a platoon)
Shortstop Amed Rosario returned to the Mets’ starting lineup on Tuesday after four days on the bench. That his return came against Orioles lefty John Means was telling, though Rojas insisted the Mets are not employing a shortstop platoon with the right-handed-hitting Rosario and the left-handed-hitting Andrés Giménez.

Rosario’s last four starts have all come against lefty pitchers. He has not played versus a right-handed starter since Aug. 30; in the meantime, Giménez has continued to impress the Mets with his blend of contact hitting, speed and premium up-the-middle defense.

“He’s working,” Rojas said of Rosario. “He’s taking his extra ground balls … and he’s locked in. He wanted to be ready whenever he was going to get the chance again.”