Just Mets

Often times, the sophomore season for a starting pitcher can be difficult, humbling, and disappointing. But in the case of Jacob deGrom, he certainly has yet to disappoint over his first three starts in his second season.

He fired seven more shutout innings on Saturday night in front of a sold out crowd at Citi Field, throwing 69 of his 101 pitches for strikes and – as has been the case with all of the Mets starting pitches – he walked nobody.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, deGrom’s 2.48 ERA through his first 25 starts is third-lowest in Mets history, behind only Jerry Koosman (2.21) and Matt Harvey (2.37).

“There are those guys that have what it takes to play and what it takes to pitch, and [deGrom has] got it,” Terry Collins said after the game. “He’s got the knack. He’s got the feel for it. He’s kind of like [Matt Harvey]. It’s a tribute to the makeup he’s got.”

With the win, deGrom improved to 2-1 for the year. He has a 0.93 ERA thanks in part to 18 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings, a streak which has been running since the first inning of his first start against Washington – the two run home run he allowed to Ryan Zimmerman in the first inning on April 8 are the only runs deGrom has allowed this year.

DeGrom’s scoreless streak is the longest by a Met pitcher since R.A. Dickey tallied 32 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings in 2012.

DeGrom has struggled a bit with his command in the early part of the season. His fastball has sat up in the zone, and he’s missed his location on many occasions. Yet, like all good pitchers do, he found a way to manage through it, and on Saturday night he seemed to find that command midway through.

Once that happened, the Marlins didn’t have much of a chance.

“Definitely, that was the best I’ve felt,” deGrom said about his outing on Saturday.

He had to battle through two long replay reviews, but his biggest test may have come in the sixth inning when he had to face Giancarlo Stanton with runners at first and second and one out. He passed the test with flying colors, aggressively going after Stanton and striking him out on a pitch inside.

“I was thinking, I’m not going to walk him,” deGrom said. “I’m going to come right at him, get him out.”

He’s giving up hits at a higher rate than he did last year, but he’s walking at a lesser rate. That could be attributed by the increased use of his fastball early on, but he’s also getting the opposition to swing at more pitches outside the strike zone, thanks in part to his ability to get his fastball to rise through the zone, and then bury his change-up down and out.

“His mound presence, the way he carries himself, he’s not scared of any hitter or any situation,” Michael Cuddyer said of deGrom after the win. “No moment is too big for him, and no hitter is too big.”

That’s what’s so impressive about deGrom. He has less than a year under his belt, but, as Collins said, he just gets it and has no fear regardless of the opponent, regardless of the situation. I like to say he goes about this in a quieter fashion than Harvey does, but they’re both the same in terms of being fearless bulldogs and their ability to command and control the entire game for the Mets.

To have that in two starting pitchers – especially those who are so young – is a rare blessing for a team.