Mets Playoff History: Jacob deGrom’s 2015 NLDS heroics

Jacob deGrom made his playoff debut in 2015 against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS. He didn’t disappoint.

When we think back to the 2015 postseason, many of us fast-forward to the World Series and the mistakes made there. However, there were many great performances by New York Mets players throughout the playoffs.

In the first round of the postseason, when the Mets faced off against the Los Angeles Dodgers, the controversial series was a back-and-forth battle featuring two starts by Jacob deGrom. Both times he came up huge.

deGrom made his postseason debut in game one against Clayton Kershaw. Despite striking out 11 Mets batters, Kershaw was the weaker of the two starters.

deGrom was utterly brilliant in this outing. He tossed seven shutout innings while allowing only five hits and walking one. His 13 strikeouts were a big part of the victory and a reason why New York came away winners with a score of 3-1.

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The next time deGrom took the mound, the series was on the line. This time, instead of facing Kershaw, he was up against an equally as talented pitcher, Zack Greinke. It was game five and the winner would advance to the NLCS. The loser would head back home. Without a doubt, it was the most important start of his big league career.

Greinke didn’t make it easy on deGrom. Just like Kershaw did several days earlier, he pitched 6.2 innings and allowed three runs. deGrom, not as masterful as he was in game one, still lasted six innings. The Dodgers did score against him twice. However, three runs for the Mets gave them a lead which would hold up for the rest of the game.

The Mets took the game 3-2, winning the five-game series by the same total. deGrom’s first two postseason starts were in the books and the future ace of Flushing was already 2-0.

deGrom later went on to pitch a game in the NLCS and one final time in the World Series. The former was much better than the latter; as was the result of the series for the Mets.

Hopefully, the history of deGrom in the playoffs is unfinished.

When the Mets returned in 2016, Noah Syndergaard took the hill in the Wild Card Game instead of deGrom due to an injury. It didn’t seem to make a difference as Thor was awesome as expected. The bullpen was a different story.

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A return to postseason glory is definitely on the list of things for deGrom to accomplish. So far, at 3-1 with a 2.88 ERA overall, he’s off to a fine start.