Stetson alum deGrom shows off his stuff
An injury to Dillon Gee opened the door for Jacob deGrom to join the New York Mets starting rotation. deGrom quickly showed he knew what to do.
The Stetson University alum and Central Florida native turned in an impressive start in his Major League Baseball debut as he held the New York Yankees to one run on this day in 2014. The Yankees wound up winning 1-0 as deGrom unceremoniously absorbed the loss in front of 40,133 at Citi Field. While it would take six more starts for deGrom to pitch at least seven innings, his performance set the framework for a career that took off quickly.
deGrom, who played at Stetson from 2007-2010, went on to win the National League Rookie of the Year award in 2014.
Plus, how many pitchers can say they held a Hall of Famer without a hit in their first MLB start?
Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, a member of the 2020 Hall of Fame class, grounded out on the first pitch he saw from deGrom. Jeter wound up going 0-for-3 against deGrom, who threw 10 of his 12 pitches to the Yankees captain for a strike.
deGrom went on to strike out six as he held the Yankees scoreless for six innings. The shutout ended when Alfonso Soriano hit a one-out double to score Brian McCann in the seventh.
deGrom, who got the start when Gee was placed on the disabled list with a lat strain, allowed just four hits and walked two.
He also lined a single to center field in the third inning for the first hit of the season by a Mets pitcher. The staff was a collective 0-for-64 to that point, setting an MLB record in the process. The old mark belonged to the St. Louis Browns, who went hitless in 45 at-bats in 1914, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Coincidentally, the home plate umpire that night was Ormond Beach native Hunter Wendelstedt, who runs the Wendelstedt Umpire School in Volusia County. deGrom, who was born in DeLand and grew up in DeLeon Springs, attended Calvary Christian Academy in Ormond Beach.
At Stetson, deGrom played his first two seasons as an infielder before making his pitching debut during his junior season.