Photo: USA Today
New York Mets ace Jacob deGrom made his second start of the spring on Thursday night. The right-hander looked in mid-season form, striking out seven of the nine batters he faced over three perfect innings in the team’s 1-0 win over the Houston Astros.
Following his outing, deGrom told reporters via Zoom he felt good out there, and with three more spring training starts to go he feel’s ready for the regular season.
“I feel like I’m staying within myself. The goal tonight was to try to locate, and pitch off my fastball and use my slider, and that’s what we did,” he said. “I feel ready to go. I think I’ve got three more, and will continue to work on locating that off-speed and establishing the fastball.”
DeGrom certainly looked ready to go, as he consistently hit 100 MPH on his fastball, touched 101 MPH a handful of times throughout the night, and was up to 102 mph according to a scout. When asked about the uptick in velocity from his first season in the big leagues, deGrom said he feels it’s a result of cleaning up and working on his delivery.
“I honestly feel better now than compared to when I first came into the league. I think it really boils down to knowing everything is on time and where I need it to be, and I honestly feel like I am. My delivery’s better than it was when I first came in,” deGrom said.
Mets first baseman Pete Alonso was asked about deGrom postgame, and he said the two-time National League Cy Young award winner has “aged like fine wine”. When asked to describe what it was like to play behind the dialed in deGrom on Thursday night, Alonso said he really had no words.
“He was electric. It was super fun to watch but it got really boring because there really wasn’t much action out there. But that’s exactly how you draw it up when Jacob deGrom is on the mound mowing people down. I mean wow, he looked like a Hall of Famer,” Alonso said.
During the 2020 pandemic shortened season, deGrom pitched to a 2.38 ERA, 2.26 FIP, and 0.95 WHIP while striking out a league leading 104 batters over 12 starts. The 32-year old right-hander certainly appears to be locked-in heading into his eighth season in the big leagues.
