Last Monday sparked concern over the decreased velocity on Jacob deGrom‘s fastball. A pitch that deGrom normally has hovering between 95 and 97 was only hitting 91 to 93 on the radar gun when he pitched against the Miami Marlins on March 21st.
DeGrom put to rest any issues with his velocity on Saturday with a strong performance over the Atlanta Braves. His final line stood at 6 2/3 innings pitched, while striking out five and allowing two runs on three hits. He hit 94 mph consistently during his outing, while a scout had him marked as high as 95 at times.
Manager, Terry Collins believes that it’s time to squash the media narrative regarding deGrom’s velocity “problems.”
“Jake looked good. We can put to rest the 91s that you guys are all worried about,” Collins said. “I hope you are easy with it now. He threw the ball very well today, and he is right on track with one more start, and we’ll get him over 100 pitches, and he’ll be ready.” (NY Post)
It is believed that the current plan will be to have deGrom open up the doors at Citi Field on April 8th for the home opener against the Philadelphia Phillies. He knows that the concern comes with the territory of being a power pitcher like he is.
“That’s what people like to see,” deGrom said. “I feel like I have command of most of my pitches. My slider was good today. I felt good. I felt normal. Minus the back thing, it’s been a good spring training. I’m happy with it. I’m able to command all my pitches in the zone, and I think that is the main thing to get out of spring training.”
Some have speculated the lack of advanced velocity on his fastball was caused by pitching through a longer than normal season in 2015.
“Last year was a long year. That was the most I’ve thrown. So I think taking a little more time off in the offseason and then using spring training more to build into the year, deGrom said. I think I’ve come better prepared to spring training before, but this year, taking a little bit of extra time off because we played so late, I used this spring a little more to get ready.’’
DeGrom, 27, threw a career-high 216 innings, while compiling a 14-8 record and pitching to a 2.54 ERA in his sophomore season. In his rookie season of 2014, he pitched just 140.1 innings, while compiling a 9-6 record, a 2.69 ERA, and taking home the rookie of the year award.
The talk of his lowered velocity has been overblown, and he has yet to really show any signs of struggling. Terry Collins let it be known that it’s not all about how hard you pitch, but it’s effective you are that makes the difference. “The object of the game is to get outs,” Collins said. “Jake is getting outs.”
Catcher, Travis d’Arnaud agreed with Collins. “To me, it’s all about executing pitches. I don’t know how hard his fastball is or his curve ball.”
There has been no reason to believe that velocity will be an issue for deGrom this season. He has been and will continue to be a consistent force in the Mets’ rotation. Jacob will be ready without any doubt come Friday April 8th, as the Mets raise the 2015 National League Championship banner in front of a sold out Citi Field crowd.
