The hottest hitter in baseball is unquestionably Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez.
His two-run home run in the first game of the Mets four-game series with the Rockies was his 26th of the season and 13th since the All-Star break.
But Gonzalez has been completely silenced since then, going a combined 0-for-7 with two strikeouts against Mets co-aces Matt Harvey and Jacob deGrom on consecutive nights at Citi Field.
After being completely stymied by deGrom on Wednesday night, Gonzalez came away with high praise of the Mets right-hander.
“DeGrom is the best pitcher in the game, hands down,” Gonzalez explained to reporters on Wednesday night.
Not only is this coming from a premiere slugger in the sport, but it’s also coming from a guy playing in the same division as Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke and Madison Bumgarner, as well as someone who’s faced Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Jordan Zimmermann on the Rockies current road trip.
And, don’t forget Harvey.
“I’ve faced a lot of good pitchers, but his stuff is the best I’ve seen all year,” Gonzalez continued. “Why? Because his fastball jumps. He throws 98. Zimmermann and Strasburg, those guys throw 98, but [deGrom’s] change-up is also good. His cutter or slider that he throws has a lot of angle, and he had a sharp curveball, too.”
DeGrom has established himself as one of the premiere pitchers in this sport since his major league debut in 2014, and arguably the best pitcher in baseball over that time as well. The reigning National League Rookie of the Year may be poised to be in the running for an even bigger award this season, as his 2.03 ERA is second only to Zack Greinke’s in all of baseball, and his 2.07 ERA in the last 365 days trails only Greinke’s 1.81 ERA in that span.
It’s one thing for Mets players, fans and New York media to speak highly of deGrom, it’s a whole other thing entirely when it’s an opposing star player. Clearly, the industry has not only begun to take notice at the quiet dominance of deGrom, but they’ve begun to respect what he’s doing as well.
“When you get to two strikes against a guy like him, you don’t even know what to look for. That’s so tough as a hitter,” Gonzalez concluded.
Nor do most hitters in this league, it seems.
Just Mets 