3 best Jacob deGrom memories as a New York Met

Jacob deGrom memories #3: 8 K’s to start the day

This was the moment deGrom locked up the National League Rookie of the Year Award in 2014.

deGrom stepped onto the mound with his full five-pitch arsenal and excellent command at his disposal. The Marlins looked uncomfortable in the batter's box from the start. In the first inning, he beat Cristian Yelich and Donovan Solano with fastballs on the inner third (keep in mind, these were the days when he was primarily a sinker-baller who averaged 93 and topped out at 96) and then got Jake McGee looking at a back-door sinker for a called third strike.

He started the second inning the same way, nailing the outside corner with a sinker to catch Marcell Ozuna looking. He then got Justin Bour and Adeiny Hechavarria swinging on fastballs up and out of the zone. This tied the Mets’ team record for strikeouts to start a game.

He started the third inning by freezing former-Met Jordany Valdespin with a slider low and in to set a new Mets record for strikeouts to start a game. He then froze Jeff Mathais with a back-door sinker for the eighth consecutive strikeout, tying the Major League record to start a game.

Unfortunately, the next batter, Marlins starter Jarred Cosart, hit a single to break the streak. deGrom would go on to strike out 13 batters over seven innings, and in classic Mets fashion, the bullpen would blow the lead and the Mets would lose the game.

Jacob deGrom memories #2: The deGrom game

This is the most dominant pitching performance I’ve ever watched from start to finish. The Washington Nationals had no chance whatsoever against deGrom on April 23rd, 2021.

On the last page, I talked about how deGrom had his full arsenal and excellent command for his eight consecutive strikeout game in 2014. That was the old deGrom. Now fast forward to 2021 when he throws 101, and his 4-seam and slider are so elite that he scrapped his sinker and curveball altogether, and he rarely uses his changeup.

The deGrominator started the night with a three-pitch strikeout of Andrew Stevenson, finishing him with 101 low and in. Completely unfair pitch. He followed that by striking out Josh Harrison on a slider that almost bounced in the left-handed batters box. In the second inning, he blew Josh Bell away with a fastball up and in, and then got Yan Gomes chasing an outside slider. 

The rest of the night continued like this. The Nationals never figured out their timing or deGrom’s sequencing, so they were constantly late on fastballs and early on sliders and changeups. The most impressive inning was the top of the 7th, when deGrom carved through the heart of the Nationals’ order to set the record for the most strikeouts through four starts in a season with 50. He got Trea Turner and Josh Bell chasing low changeups, and froze Schwarber with a slider low and in.

The “Master of His Craft,” as broadcaster Gary Cohen likes to say, would finish the night with a two-hit shutout and 15 strikeouts, a personal best for the ace. It was the third consecutive start in which he struck out 14 batters or more. It’s still astonishing as I type this nearly two years later.

Oh, and did I mention he had two hits, including an RBI double? That guy can do it all.

Jacob deGrom memories #1: Back-to-back Cy Youngs

Jacob deGrom won back-to-back Cy Youngs in 2018 and 2019, the most dominant run of pitching in recent memory. 

Over those two seasons, the righty made 64 starts and pitched 421 innings. He allowed just 306 hits, 96 earned runs, 29 homers, 90 walks, and struck out 524 batters. His ERA was 2.05, his FIP was 2.32, his WHIP was 0.941, and his ERA+ was an absurd 190. His ratios are crazy too, with a K/BB ratio of 5.82, an H9 of 6.5, a HR/9 of 0.6, a BB/9 of 1.9, and a K/9 of 11.2.

Now let’s break it down by season. In 2018, he led baseball with a 1.70 ERA, 1.98 FIP, 0.4 HR/9, and 218 ERA+. He tossed 217 innings and struck out 269 batters. On top of winning the Cy Young, he finished 5th in the MVP voting with 29 first place votes (Max Scherzer got the other one on the Nationals). He was truly deGrominant.

In 2019, he had a 2.43 ERA, 2.67 FIP, and 169 ERA+. He led the NL with 255 strikeouts in 204 innings. He finished 10th in the MVP voting as well.

He nearly made it three consecutive Cy Youngs in the pandemic shortened 2020. He finished 3rd in the voting, trailing Spider Tack aficionado Trevor Bauer, as well as Cubs ace Yu Darvish. deGrom led the NL in strikeouts (104) and K/9 (13.8). 

deGrom was on track to win again in 2021 before getting hurt. He had 1.08 ERA through 15 starts, as well as 146 strikeouts through 92 innings pitched, good for a 14.3 K/9. He only walked 11 batters, good for a 13.27 K/BB. He still finished 9th in Cy Young voting, even though he missed more than half of the season.

I guess the point to all of this is that Jacob deGrom is an insanely talented pitcher who will be missed in Queens. Seeing him in a Rangers uniform just doesn’t look right, and it won’t for some time. My hope is that when his career is over, he goes into the Hall of Fame with a Mets logo on his cap.