Portland 1, Binghamton 0

I attended the game and charted Jacob DeGrom’s pitching stats on the hunch that tonight could be special. The kid was stellar; polished, poised, a smooth and effortless delivery, and he simply pounded the strike zone. I don’t think I’ve seen a B-Met pitcher pitch a game like this since Scott Kazmir many years back.

Here’s DeGrom’s pitching line:

8.0 IP – 1 ER – 3 H – 1  XBH – 1 BB – 8 K

The statistics are even more impressive when you break them down. Take a look at this.

• Total Pitches: 102, Strikes: 71 – 69% Balls 31
• Full Windup: Pitches: 90, Strikes: 62 – 70% Balls: 28
• Fastballs: Pitches: 66 Strikes: 46 – 70% Balls 20
• Off-Speed Pitches: 24 Strikes: 16 – 67% Balls 8
• Stretch: Pitches: 12 Strikes: 9 – 75% Balls 3
• Fastballs: Pitches: 7 Strikes: 4 -57% Balls 4
• Off-Speed Pitches 5 Strikes 5 – 100%

DeGrom’s fastball range stretched from 86 to 96. He threw only six of 66 fastballs in the 80′s. It was hard to classify his off-speed pitch that ranged from 78-83, but generally fell between 81-83. I asked a B-Met pitcher sitting behind home plate and charting what his pitch was and he said it was a changeup. It did appear to tail away from left-handed hitters and I thought I saw a small downward drop occasionally against righthanded batters, so I wasn’t sure. What I was sure about was it’s effectiveness.

DeGrom retired the first seven batters of the game. The seventh hitter sent a scorching grounder up the middle that hit DeGrom’s foot and was turned into a 1-4-3 putout. It seemed to rattle him just a bit. His next three pitches were out of the strike zone, before he threw three straight strikes (the last a foul ball) and then surrendered his first AA hit.

A high first pitch in the fourth inning,a pitch off the plate but Xander Bogaerta reached and got just enough of it to place a soft popup that hit the rightfield line not too far beyond the infield. It resulted in a leadoff double. Bogaerta moved to third on a weak infield groundout to short and scored on a sacrifice fly to centerfield.

DeGrom retired his final 12 batters in a row with only three balls hit out of the infield. His 101st pitch registered at 91 mph. The kid was brilliant.

Portland’s Brandon Workman proved Met fans aren’t the only fans excited about pitching prospects. He threw seven innings, allowing four hits, striking out nine and walking none. Workman and DeGrom gave the sparse crowd an old-fashioned pitching duel.

The B-Mets had a pair of two-hit innings but couldn’t scratch out a run for DeGrom. Some efficient outfield play and the cannon arm of Sea Wolf left fielder Tony Thomas helped keep the B-Mets off the board. Thomas gunned down Wilfredo Thomas going first to third to kill a rally in the second inning.

When Allan Dykstra sent a screamer down the leftfield line to lead off the B-Met eighth it looked like a double. But, Thomas played the ball perfectly and unleashed a rocket to second that had Dykstra scrambling to get back to first. Corey Vaughn failed to advance Josh Rodriguez who pinch ran for Dykstra. That proved costly when Blake Forsythe singled to right sending Rodriguez to third. But Daniel Muno looked at a third strike and Wifredo Tovar swung and missed a third strike and that was that.

Darrell Ceciliani had two hits for the B-Mets, but the real story in Binghamton was quality starting pitching, for Met fans – the stellar AA debut of Jacob DeGrom.

Key Stats

Darrell Ceciliani: 2-for-4, 1 CS

Allan Dykstra: 1-for-3

Wilfredo Tovar: 1-for-3

Blake Forsythe: 1-for-3

Jacob DeGrom: 8.0 IP, 3 H, 1 BB, 1 ER, 8 K

John Church: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 2 K

Report contributed by MMO reader John Bernhardt (B-Met)

But why?

So the Mets can correct one of the worst deals they have made in recent history? Because he is now available for cheap?

Neither of these reasons makes sense.

The Kazmir deal was a dark day in Mets history. Trading a top prospect for two players who contribute nothing is always looked down upon, even more so when the prospect puts up fantastic numbers.

However, Kazmir is no longer that pitcher. Had Kazmir had one down season, then picking him up would make more sense. But Kazmir has been just plain bad since 2009.

Since 2009, Kazmir has made 55 starts. He has a 19-24 record and a 5.54 ERA over that time frame. To make matters worse, he has a 1.52 WHIP. These are numbers are eye-popping, and not for a good reason.

Kazmir has seen his strikeout rate drop significantly in the past few years. In 2008, Kazmir posted a 9.8 K/9 rate. Then, in 2010, that number dropped to 5.6 K/9. He saw his walk rate increase from 3.7 BB/9 in 2008 to 4.7 BB/9 in 2010.

He was sent to the minors after a back injury this year to try to rehab and return to the majors. Kazmir failed miserably at Triple-A. He made five starts and his numbers were ugly. Looking past the 0-5 record, Kazmir put up a 17.02 ERA and 2.74 WHIP. Worst of all, Kazmir had a 11.7 BB/9 rate.

Another reason that has been suggested that the Mets go out and get Kazmir is because he is cheap and could be a low-risk/high-reward type player.

While he may be cheap, there are some issues with Kazmir. His fastball velocity has been dropping every since his rookie year. It is understandable that it fell from an average of 93.7 mph his first season to around 92 mph until 2008. But then, he began to lose velocity. His fastball was coming in at an average of 90.5 mph in 2010 and it was ineffective.

Taking a look at Fangraphs shows that Kazmir was actually worth -$3 million to the Angels last year. Kazmir has quickly fallen from being an elite pitcher to an average pitcher to a reclamation project.

The Mets were convinced that they could sort out Oliver Perez’s problems, but they couldn’t. What is to think that all of a sudden, they will be able to short out Kazmir’s issues.

Kazmir may be cheap, but that is because of how poorly he has performed. With the Mets closing in on the wild card race, they do not need another headache.

The Angels acquired Kazmir for minor league left-hander Alex Torres, minor league infielder Matt Sweeney, and a player to be named later.

Kazmir, 25, got off to a rough start this season and is 8-7 with a 5.92 earned-run average for the Rays this season. However, the former Mets prospect is 4-2 with a 4.41 ERA in eight starts since the All Star break..

There is some speculation that the acquisition of Kazmir could increase the chances of Angels ace John Lackey leaving as a free agent after the season. If that does happen, he probably becomes the best pitcher available in a weak free agent class this fall.

There has also beno some on again/off again rumors that Ervin Santana might be available in a trade, but with the deadline now passed, if they move him, it won’t be until the off season.

Kazmir had to clear waivers to be traded at this point in the season, and according to the rules, the Mets could not have claimed him unless he passed through the American League first, even though the Mets may have had a worse record. But does anybody believe the Mets would have taken on that contract even if he was to have trickled down to the Mets?

Kazmir is earning $6 million this season in the first year of a $28.5 million, three-year deal he agreed to in May 2008. He is owed $8 million next season and $12 million in 2011, and his contract contains a $13.5 million club option for 2012 with a $2.5 million buyout.