Photo by Ed Delany of MMO

Jacob deGrom was on the mound Tuesday night for the Mets in his spring debut, and he was dominant and looked to be in top form and ready for the start of the season. He threw two shutout innings as the Mets blanked the Astros on Tuesday night under the lights of Clover Park in Port St. Lucie.

DeGrom pitched the opening two innings against the Astros. He struck out five and gave up just one hit in two innings of work and threw just 30 pitches (24 for strikes). He faced seven batters in Tuesday’s outing. His fastball topped out at 99 mph and averaged 97.7 mph.

This was his first time facing live hitting in over eight-months, coming back from elbow inflammation that sent the Mets’ ace to the injured list in July.

In his post-game press conference deGrom admitted he was nervous. He said his main focus on Tuesday was being “really smooth down the mound.” DeGrom said he felt in sync and like he threw the ball, saying he overall happy with how his first start of Spring went. He said he wasn’t trying to throw his hardest Tuesday night, and that his outing was strictly about being smooth and easing back into being on the mound since it was his first time back, as well as a delayed start to spring due to the lockout.

In terms of the elbow, deGrom said it felt good and that he was happy to pitch again and feel good. “Facing our guys and feeling really good, and then tonight feeling really good, is definitely reassuring of the health part it,” said deGrom.

He also stated that the spring outings are to get their work in.DeGrom wishes he would have thrown more changeups, but that he was focused on working on the fastball and slider Tuesday night.

Here’s the pitch breakdown from the outing:

  • Four-seamers: 18 pitches, 13 swings (7 whiffs), 44% CSW (called strikes plus whiffs)
  • Sliders: 10 pitches, 7 swings (6 whiffs), 70% CSW
  • Changeup: 1 pitch, 1 swing (1 whiff)
  • Curveball: 1 pitch, 1 called strike

Buck Showalter stated in his post-game conference that he was encouraged by what he saw out of deGrom as well. He spoke on the “health and freeness” deGrom pitched with, saying he threw all his pitches and that’s what they were looking for from him Tuesday night. Showalter saying the team will see how he will feel on Wednesday.

Mets catcher Tomas Nido also spoke on deGrom’s Tuesday outing. He said his velocity was good and his command was on point Tuesday night. He said his stuff is “scary.”

Mike Piazza was also encouraged by what he saw from deGrom, saying, “the success is not a mistake,” speaking on how hard deGrom works.

Tuesday night was a strong stepping stone for deGrom and if he can stay healthy, the combination of Scherzer and deGrom, two Cy-Young winners being in the rotation together is going to be exciting for Mets fans to watch and “scary” as Mike Piazza put it for opposing teams.