He’s still deOne
Mets: Opener aside, Jake’s ace of staff
PORT ST. LUCIE — Dave Eiland admitted that on merit, Jacob deGrom should be the Mets Opening Day starter with “no doubt.” Noah Syndergaard knows he is getting the honor only because deGrom’s spring training throwing program was slowed by the birth of a child and a slight back issue. Thursday, Syndergaard admitted that deGrom had earned the nod.
And Friday, deGrom went out and proved why he is the Mets’ ace, no matter when he gets his first start.
The lanky right-hander pitched five scoreless innings against the Orioles, allowing just one hit, and striking out eight. He did not issue a walk.
“He was really good. He had a really good curveball today. He commented on that to us, that is the best his curveball has felt,” deGrom said. “He can add that pitch to his repertoire often, he can be pretty dangerous.”
DeGrom has been dangerous since he arrived in the majors in 2014. A converted shortstop who was a ninth-round pick, deGrom has never had the hype of the other pitchers in the Mets rotation. He was never given a cool superhero nickname.
He just simply went out and battled, competed and carried this team at times.
Last season, he was the only pitcher to stay off the disabled list the whole year. Among all the big-name starters the Mets have groomed and brought through their system, he is the only one to have actually reached that 200-inning season milestone.
So, yeah, he is disappointed that he is not getting the ball Mar. 29 at Citi Field to start the season against the Cardinals.
“I definitely would have liked to have started, I didn’t know if the timeline worked and talking to them, we wanted to play it safe,” deGrom said. “It’s definitely disappointing, would have liked to have started. Hopefully there will be more.”
Friday, it was hard to see why the Mets are holding deGrom back.
According to two scouts who were watching, deGrom threw free and easy and his command was sharp. He threw all his pitches for strikes.
“He’s ready to face big league hitters,” one scout said. “He doesn’t look like he missed a beat this spring.”
But he did miss time with a very
brief period of lower-back tightness and he is behind the other starters in stretching out and ramping up.
DeGrom threw around 55 pitches in the game, 41 for strikes Friday, his second spring training start. Then the 29-year-old went to the bullpen and threw 10 more pitches. That was to try to stretch him out for the season. He will only have one more Grapefruit League start this spring. That will only be his third start because he suffered a tight lower back after returning to his throwing program after missing three days for the birth of his daughter.
That’s where the problem is for deGrom.
Eiland wants his starters to get five spring games before the season. The very least is four, stretched out over 75 pitches. Pushing deGrom to get ready for what is a big deal to a player’s resume and something he had earned, was just a risk the Mets were not willing to take.
And after watching the last two seasons go downhill rapidly because of injuries to his fellow starters, deGrom gets it. He can take some consolation in the fact that everyone in the Mets’ clubhouse admits the honor should be his.
“Yeah, there definitely is,” deGrom said of having some satisfaction in hearing Callaway, Eiland and even Syndergaard admit he should have the honor. “But, we’re being safe. What if we did push it and something happened and you look back and say ‘why?’ If nothing happened, great I start Opening Day. If it did why did we push it. “It’s a slippery slope, we just wanted to play it safe.”
Just how slippery a slope it is for the Mets was emphasized Friday when Jason Vargas, the lefty signed as insurance for the health of the rotation, was hurt. He took a comebacker off his glove hand in a minor league game. While X-Rays were negative for a broken bone, he is now day-to-day.
So deGrom will get the second start of the season, but the acknowledgement from his teammates, coaches and manager that he is their most accomplished pitcher heading into the season was just as satisfying as being named the Opening Day starter.