Mets ace Jacob deGrom is back in the All-Star conversation

Worrying about Jacob deGrom is so April 2019. The New York Mets ace is pitching great and back in the All-Star conversation.

As if there was ever any doubt about the abilities of New York Mets ace Jacob deGrom, the reigning National League Cy Young winner put himself back in the All-Star conversation on Tuesday. Two outs away from a complete game shutout, deGrom served up a pair of home runs to Freddie Freeman and Josh Donaldson. This didn’t do much to damage his ERA which has now slipped down to 3.26.

The win versus the Atlanta Braves brought deGrom’s record to 4-6. The below .500 winning percentage is symbolic of the Mets’ season as a whole. Despite pitching well again in 2019, poor run support and blown leads by the bullpen have ruined many nights for deGrom all year long.

Entering Tuesday, only nine National League pitchers had ERAs below 3.00. One of them, Julio Teheran, got clobbered by the Mets and is well behind deGrom.

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An ERA is hardly the lone qualifier for an All-Star pitcher. Other numbers, like his 122 strikeouts on the season, should also help his cause. Only Max Scherzer has more right now. Combined with deGrom’s other numbers, he’s definitely someone who should receive strong consideration in heading to Cleveland this summer.

The Mets have pushed hard for Pete Alonso and Jeff McNeil to get their place on the All-Star roster. The rookie and sophomore Flushing stars are both deserving. Lately, Michael Conforto has made a case, too. Now, deGrom joins these men.

The last time the Mets had more than one All-Star was back in 2016 when Terry Collins managed the team and had his pick of reserves. Yoenis Cespedes was the lone position player to make the roster with pitchers Bartolo Colon, Jeurys Familia, and Noah Syndergaard joining him.

Prior to this, you have to go back to 2013 when Citi Field hosted the event. Matt Harvey received the nod to start the game on the mound. Over at third base, David Wright played in the final All-Star Game of his career.

I don’t think Mets fans forgot about deGrom in the All-Star race. Because there’s no voting for pitchers, though, the attention has been on Alonso and McNeil. Both of them are on the ballot for the first time. It’s the first chance fans get to vote them in.

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To little fault of his own, the Mets are now 5-10 in games where deGrom starts. A trip to the All-Star Game is something he definitely deserves. If he continues to dominate over his next few starts, National League Manager Dave Roberts will have no choice but to include deGrom on the roster.