At the risk of sounding like our former AD, I think it's about managing expectations.
Realistic expectation for deGrom is that he comes back late this season, and gets a few innings in to further his recovery and hopefully set him up to be vintage deGrom in '25. Unrealistic expectation is that he comes back this season and dominates the way he has in the past. I can't think of a single pitcher who came back from TJ and was immediately as good as they were prior to. It takes a long time to recover from the surgery and then it also takes a while to get back in the groove of pitching.
Not counting out the playoffs this season, but if you're counting on deGrom to be a big piece of that, you're kidding yourself IMO.
Jimbo Franchione