SIM-SATIONAL
deGROM FANS 9 OF 14, ALLOWS ZERO HITS IN FINAL TUNEUP
Jacob deGrom appears ready for Opening Day.
The right-hander had a successful return to the mound in a simulated game at Citi Field on Sunday after leaving his previous outing in an intrasquad game with back discomfort.
DeGrom threw 60 pitches Sunday, struck out nine of the 14 batters he faced and didn’t allow a hit.
“We got some good reports,’’ manager Luis Rojas said after the Mets lost to the Yankees, 6-0, in The Bronx.
“Jake was Jake, at the best level,’’ Rojas said. “[He hit] 98 to triple digits [mph] on his fastball and his slider was where it usually is. He’s pretty much lined up right now [for the opener].”
DeGrom had been slated to start the Mets’ second exhibition game of spring training 2.0 against the Yankees on Sunday before experiencing back tightness in the intrasquad game, which forced him out after just one inning on Monday. Instead of facing the Yankees, he threw a simulated game so the Mets could better control his pitch count.
It’s a positive sign for the Mets, who now figure to have their ace on the mound against the Braves on Friday in Queens. Rojas has said he’d like to have deGrom in position to throw 85 pitches in the season opener.
General manager Brodie Van Wagenen, assistant GM Allaird Baird and assistant pitching coach Jeremy Accardo were on hand for deGrom’s outing, with Tomas Nido behind the plate.
“Huge,’’ Jeff McNeil said of the prospect of deGrom being ready for the opener. “We know every time he can pitch a heck of a game. He keeps us in every game. Just give him good run support and we know we’ll win a lot of games with him on the mound.”
The news was good for deGrom, who was confident he wouldn’t miss any time following an MRI exam that came back clean.
“I feel good,” deGrom said Thursday. “That’s the goal, to pitch on Opening Day.”
DeGrom said then he likely would be in position to throw 85 pitches on Opening Day rather than the 100 he’d probably throw had his workload not been reduced because of the tight back.
It’s the second time in three years deGrom has been bothered by a back issue. In 2018, back stiffness in spring training kept him from starting the opener. He was replaced by Noah Syndergaard and instead pitched Game 2 of the season. But deGrom doesn’t believe there is any correlation between the two injuries, saying he may have simply slept wrong this time.
The 32-year-old is coming off consecutive NL Cy Young awards and will lead a rotation that will include Marcus Stroman, Steven Matz and newcomers Rick Porcello and Michael Wacha. Syndergaard will miss the season after needing Tommy John surgery in the spring.
Although he’s been overwhelmingly dominant the past two years, deGrom has had some of his more difficult outings in the early parts of both seasons. Last year, after tossing a combined 13 scoreless innings in his first two outings, deGrom had three straight shaky outings in the first month of the season.
He more than made up for that in 2019, but that won’t be as easy in a 60-game schedule and the Mets will take their chances with deGrom on the mound as often as they can.