Jacob knows this Cy chase will be different
One hundred and sixty-two games versus 60, if we're lucky. Thirty starts instead of 12. Jacob deGrom knows that the pursuit of his third straight National League Cy Young Award can't possibly be the same.
“I would say that definitely has to be some difference there,” deGrom said. “There's a lot that can happen in any given start. You know, you normally play 162 games and 200 innings.”
Even beyond the pandemic-shortened year, deGrom is actually one of the few pitchers to reach 200 innings as a matter of habit — only 2019 AL Cy Young winner Justin Verlander completed more frames than his 421 since 2018.
For deGrom, it's not just the per-inning dominance — his 2.05 ERA, which Fangraphs counts as 48% better than the league average, would pop in the back end of any bullpen — but the sheer volume, a rare ability to maintain his excellence through days after nights, and dead arms from April through September.
The Mets ace acknowledges he's still looking for some extra hardware. And how could he not? Only 10 other pitchers in history have won at least three, and only two of those aces haven't made the Hall. One of them, Nationals star Max Scherzer is well on his way. Roger Clemens leads all pitchers with seven Cy's, but is dragged down by countless rumors and anecdotes of his performance-enhancing drug use propping up four of his seven Cy wins during the second half of his career.
So, unless deGrom gets the other positive test result nobody wants, continuing his streak would create an unassailable stretch of peak brilliance, and as close to a clincher for his legacy.
With his N95 mask draped to the side during his virtual interview, deGrom admitted that “I don't think (another Cy) would feel the same.”
“But it's definitely still a goal.” As it should be.
MATZ EARNS RAVES
Before things turned stormy Monday afternoon, the Mets had a dose of sunshine: the participants in the team's daily Zoom conference call raved about Steven Matz's summer tune-up.
Rookie manager Luis Rojas was surprised by how well Matz responded to the lengthy layoff between March and July.
“Eye-popping,” was how Rojas described Matz, expecting a far more gradual buildup for his veteran left-hander and the other pitchers on staff. So far, it's not the case — Rojas said he thought Matz' stuff looked “lights out” during the scrimmage.
“All the pitches are looking great,” said Rojas of his veteran lefty's sim game outing, noting that his command was ahead of schedule.
“(Matz) was able to throw his fastball ahead, throw his breaking ball ahead, use his changeup. He used his changeup off his curveball,” said Rojas. “He was playing with his pitches today … looking (in) midseason form.”
Naturally, everyone's a little more optimistic during the first days of the so-called “Summer Camp” but the enthusiasm is welcome for a pitcher like Matz, still only 29, but with a career that has swung wildly from year to year.
He made an explosive debut with Mets' pennant-winning 2015 team, going 4-0 with a 2.27 ERA, soaking up key playoff innings alongside Matt Harvey and Noah Syndergaard.
Since Matz has had a fine but unexceptional 4.17 ERA, but he's been plagued by inconsistency, injuries and demotions — even pitching out of the bullpen briefly in 2019. Matz came into the 2020 season likely to compete with borderline reclamation projects Michael Wacha and Rick Porcello, but Syndergaard's elbow surgery will likely force the team to depend on him as a reliable rotation cog.