DeGrom, Scherzer Give Fans A Taste Of What’s To Come

Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer gave fans quite the treat on Sunday at Clover Park. DeGrom got the start and threw the first three innings before handing the ball over to Max Scherzer, who threw the last six innings of the game to close out what was dubbed Cy-Young Sunday.

DeGrom (1-0) pitched three innings, giving up just one (earned) run on four hits. He struck out five on 52 pitches (38 strikes). His ERA so far this spring, after two games, is 1.80, with a total of 10 strikeouts. He was credited with the win in today’s game.

DeGrom started strong in the first, striking out the first two batters he faced. After giving up a two-out hit, he retired the fourth batter of the inning with his third strikeout of the day. In his second inning of work, he collected his fourth strikeout of the day and retired the two other outs via a groundout and fly-out. He gave up two-out hits in both the first and second innings but worked his way around them.

The third inning started strong for deGrom as he struck out Kramer Robertson for his fifth strikeout. He then gave up a one-out double by Dylan Carlson, who was driven in by Harrison Bader later in the inning on an RBI double for the only run deGrom gave up. He got out of trouble with a pop-out to end the inning.

Scherzer, as scheduled, threw six innings. He gave up just two (earned) runs on five hits, one walk, and one home run. He struck out seven on 90 pitches (63 strikes). His ERA this spring is 2.45 after the two games he’s pitched in, and he has 12 total strikeouts. He was credited with the save. He averaged 93.8 mph on his four-seam fastball and had a 43 percent whiff rate.

Scherzer looked dominant in his first inning of work, retiring the first three batters he faced in a perfect fourth inning. Strikeouts dominated the fifth inning (Scherzer’s second inning on the mound). He struck out the first two batters of the inning and lined out the third to end the inning, retiring the first six batters he faced. In the sixth inning, Scherzer collected his third strikeout of the day. He did get into a pinch with a two-out hit-by-pitch and a walk but retired Brendan Donovan to get out of the inning.

The seventh inning is where Scherzer got into a jam. He gave up a lead-off single to Alec Burleson, followed by an RBI double by Ali Sanchez to give the Cardinals their second run of the game. However, he retired the next three batters to get out of the inning before further damage was done.

Scherzer settled back in in the eighth inning (his fifth inning of work). He struck out the first two batters of the inning for his fourth and fifth strikeouts of the day and retired the third batter of the inning via a pop-out.

Scherzer returned for his sixth inning of work in the ninth inning. He gave up a quick lead-off home run to Anderson Tejeda. Still, he settled right back down, retiring Burleson on a groundout and striking out the last two batters of the game for his sixth and seventh strikeout of the day to close out a very dominant day of work and a special Sunday at Clover Park.

Both deGrom and Scherzer spoke to the media after their outings this afternoon.

DeGrom said it was “definitely cool” to pitch in the same game as Scherzer, but he would’ve liked getting to watch Scherzer. Instead, he had to do extra work and talk to the media after he got done throwing in the game.

In talking about throwing his curveball, deGrom said the first two he threw well, and then after that, he was trying to bounce one and wasn’t able to. After that, he wanted to see if he could throw it as a strikeout pitch, but the first two were better than the strikeout attempt. He plans to continue working on it and hopes to be able to use it more this season.

Max Scherzer spoke with the media as well. He said he talks a lot to deGrom about what they can learn from each other.

Together deGrom and Scherzer combined for 12 strikeouts and gave the fans at Clover Park a show and a taste of what they can look forward to this upcoming season.