Something just wasn’t right with Jacob deGrom over the last three weeks.
It started at Yankee Stadium on April 24 when he got shellacked for six earned runs thanks to three home runs against the big Yankee left-handed hitters. He then got derailed in the fourth inning in his next start against the Nationals when Wilmer Flores bungled a routine double play ball. After an excellent start against the Orioles on May 6, he got shellacked again in his last start against the Cubs allowing two home runs as part of the five runs he allowed in five innings.
All of that amounted to a 5.64 ERA in only 22 1/3 innings over those four starts with five home runs, nine walks and 24 hits allowed over that span.
So, it became time both Terry Collins and Dan Warthen chatted with deGrom.
“I think he’s tried way too hard to live up to what he did last year,’’ Collins said, according to Kevin Kernan of the New York Post. “[Pitching coach] Dan [Warthen] and I and Jake had a little talk last week after his last start about getting back to what made him successful last summer.’’
DeGrom admitted to Kernan he was trying to do too much and live up to the lofty expectations he set last year.
“I was overthrowing in previous games, putting pressure on myself to do too much, instead of throwing the ball the way I know how to throw it,” deGrom explained.
DeGrom made the adjustment on Saturday night, hurling six innings while allowing only one walk, five hits and one run with six strikeouts. He threw 65 of his 100 pitches for strikes, earned his fourth win of the year and lowered his ERA to 3.21 for the season.
One thing which was common throughout all of his starts before last night was his ball was tailing and rising through the strike zone. He had said during spring training that was one of the adjustments he wanted to work on to change the program up after last year. But, it was clear his command was way off too often over his last four starts, which suggests his problem was mechanical as well.
Besides, that’s just not what makes Jacob deGrom a successful pitcher, anyway.
The key to his game is keeping the ball down with his four-seam fastball consistently, and using his two-seam fastball and slider as out pitches on the corner. When he was successful last year, he had pinpoint control of those pitches in those spots with two strikes.
Last night, he looked more like that pitcher, keeping the ball down in the zone and using his biting slider on the outside corner to right-handed hitters. He threw 20 sliders, 13 of which were strikes and 11 of those strikes were not put in play.
DeGrom also went 3-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored, batting eighth in the lineup for the third time this season. The three hits by a Mets pitcher tied the franchise single-game record – it was the 26th time it’s occurred and the first since Chris Young on April 5, 2011 at Philadelphia.
Two of the hits came in the fourth inning. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, deGrom is the second pitcher in Mets history to have two hits in an inning, the last being Young on April 5, 2011.
“That was fun,” deGrom said after the game. “Just trying to get up there and hit the ball hard and they found holes.”
His work at the plate was great and entertaining, but the most important part of the night, though, was deGrom’s work on the mound, and the fact he rebounded after mostly a miserable month. It’s just one start after what really had been a struggle for deGrom early on. But last night he showed the stuff and the guile which was constantly on display in 2014 is still present, which is important for both deGrom and the team considering there’s a lot riding on a successful sophomore season.
“That was a huge night for Jake,” Collins said afterwards.
Just Mets 