How the other half lives
Mets take their cuts against deGrom, and don’t fare well
PORT ST. LUCIE — Brandon Nimmo watched a Jacob deGrom backdoor slider whiz by him and the outfielder stood in disbelief. He shook his head, looked at the mound and saw deGrom smiling ear to ear — completely satisfied with the way he shut down his teammate.
The nasty slider, a deceiving pitch that Nimmo said looked like a four-seam fastball that was going to be up and away, actually painted the outer edge of the black to strike him out looking.
“You’re basically flying blind,” Nimmo said after facing deGrom for the first time since 2014. “I couldn’t do anything with that, and I’m really good at spoiling pitches. He’s just really, really good.”
DeGrom pitched a simulated game on Tuesday afternoon — his “spring debut” — to line up the right-handed ace for Opening Day against the Nationals on March 26 at Citi Field. He faced Pete Alonso, Amed Rosario, Jed Lowrie, Robinson Cano, Michael Conforto and Nimmo.
The reigning back-to-back Cy Young award winner said, out of that group of hitters, he was looking forward to practicing that backdoor slider on Nimmo. It’s a pitch from the lethal deGrom arsenal that wasn’t showcased much last year.
“That was a guy I actually wanted to see, I wanted to throw that backdoor slider to, because he has really good plate discipline,” deGrom said.
DeGrom said he didn’t have a good feel for that slider in 2019 because “I was too much middle with it, so I stuck with it more glove side.” In his simulated game, deGrom said that was one of the better offspeed pitches he offered as he gets used to mixing it up for regular season games again.
In the National League Rookie of the Year vs. Cy Young battle, Alonso went 0-for-2 against deGrom. After fouling off a handful of pitches, Alonso managed to make contact on a groundout to second base.
“Your teammates aren’t going to like you. We only got so many pitches out here,” deGrom playfully remarked after Alonso fouled off pitch after pitch.
It’s evident the 31-year-old ace enjoys roasting his teammates with snide comments from the hill when they’re already having a difficult time facing the best pitcher in the Mets clubhouse. The last thing deGrom wants to do is make it easy on his opposing hitters, even if it’s “just” spring training.
So when Lowrie roped a one-hopper down the third-base line and kept shouting, “That’s fair! That’s fair!” deGrom refused to believe it was anything other than foul. When asked how far foul that one-hopper went, deGrom said, “Like, 10 feet. I don’t know what they were talking about.”
“Even that group I just faced, those are tough hitters. Great guys to be around,” deGrom said. “This has been a fun spring. Everybody is having fun, getting along great. Watching these guys play is impressive. When they stepped in the box, I didn’t want to give up hits to them, but that was a tough group of hitters.”
By the end of the simulated game, deGrom said he felt ready for Opening Day. The only thing left to do is gradually hike up his pitch count and continue confusing talented hitters — like Nimmo — at the plate.
Nimmo said, after four years playing behind deGrom in the outfield, he was still surprised to see a sharp curveball with topspin from the righty. Since there was no radar gun, Nimmo guessed deGrom was likely topping out at 96 mph — and that after a deliberate effort to reduce his velocity.
After one bewildering at-bat, Nimmo was just glad he wouldn’t have to face deGrom in the regular season. “It was fun to get to face him because you get to see a little bit of what everyone else has to deal with,” Nimmo said. “He executes every pitch. But that’s why he’s the best pitcher in the game.”