Mets righthander Jacob deGrom continues to find more and more ways to dazzle fans and onlookers whenever he takes the mound.
On a cool and breezy Monday night at Citi Field, deGrom got things started by striking out the first eight Miami Marlins he faced to tie a modern day major league record. The feat had only been done once before by Jim Deshaies of the Houston Astros, who struck out the first eight Los Angeles Dodgers he faced in 1986.
“Once I get two strikes on a guy, whether it’s 0-2 or 1-2, yeah, I’m trying to strike him out,” deGrom said. “I knew I had struck everybody out up to that point. But there in the seventh, I didn’t execute a couple of pitches.”
Ironically, the streak ended when opposing pitcher Jarred Cosart, stroked an opposite-field single to right. Nut it didn’t matter to the very small but vocal crowd on hand who gave the Mets rookie a rousing standing ovation.
It wasn’t all roses for the kid, who saw his consecutive innings streak without an earned run end at 28, thanks to former Met Jordany Valdespin who lined a two-run double to tie the game in the 7th inning. Thanks Valdy, but you’re still not the man.
That would be all for deGrom as he was pinch-hit for by Josh Satin in the bottom of the inning, but it was a quality start for the young righty who struck out 13 batters on the night. The last Met to whiff 13 was Matt Harvey on June 18, 2013. All told he allowed three runs on six hits and one walk in seven innings.
“That’s about as dominating a start to a game as I’ve ever seen,’’ Terry Collins said after the game.
Until he tired toward the end of his outing, he was baffling hitters by using his full arsenal of pitches. Of his 98 pitches, he threw 68 for strikes, but what I found most impressive was how lethal his changeup has become. He used it so effectively (14 times) to setup batters and then come in with his four-seamer and sinker to register 10 of his 13 strikeouts on the night. The movement on the four-seamer in innings 1-5 was sick. He was armed and dangerous last night.
If this doesn’t clinch deGrom’s case for the NL Rookie of the Year then the second order of business for new baseball commissioner Rob Manfred is a full investigation into the matter. The first order of business, of course, should be to investigate all of the Wilpons’ shady business practices over the last six years.
Despite being denied a win, deGrom now boasts a 2.68 ERA in 21 career starts this season, and the thought of a lethal 1-2 punch with him and Matt Harvey at the top of the rotation in 2015 is giving me goosebumps.
