Last night, Jacob deGrom lost a game agains the Phillies – something that has never happened before.
“Everything was flat and up in the zone,” deGrom said. “First inning felt good, felt like I could get the ball down but then after that literally everything was right down the middle of the plate and up.”
DeGrom allowed nine runs (six earned) on 10 hits and two walks in 3.2 innings. He struck out five, three of which came in the first inning. Four of those runs were driven in by Phillies starter Ben Lively, who had a two-RBI single as well as a two-run home run.
“No excuses, I was terrible tonight.”
This is another sub-par start in a recent string of underwhelming outings for deGrom, but when asked if he chalked this up to fatigue, this is what he had to say:
“I don’t think so,” deGrom said. “I feel like velocity is more than it’s been all year. Everything feels good, it’s just making pitches and wasn’t able to do it.”
When striking out the side in the first inning, it was highlighted by his throwing a 98 mph fastball past a swinging Odubel Herrera. He has now thrown 182.1 innings on the season as he inches toward his 200-inning goal.
When it comes to Jacob deGrom, his woes are usually due to mechanical issues. The issues are causing him to leave his pitches over the heart of the plate, and his off-speed pitches to break less. He has been hittable in his last few starts, but when he tweaks his mechanics in whatever way is necessary, he should go back to being is old dominant self.
