J.D. Davis has been out of the New York Mets lineup for nearly two weeks now, as he works his way back from a shoulder injury he sustained trying to make a diving stop at third base.

Davis has been making steady progress towards returning, with hopes that he will be ready for Opening Day. Friday marked the biggest step in Davis’ path to get back on the field, when he took live batting practice for the first time since the injury.

Jacob deGrom was on the mound to pitch in a simulated game, giving Davis a real tough test for the first live pitching he has seen in 10 days.

Davis proved to be up for the task however, hitting a home run and recording the only two hits that deGrom allowed.

Davis’ home run came off of hanging curveball, which is a not a primary pitch in the two-time reigning Cy Young‘s arsenal.

In 2019, deGrom relied heavily on three pitches, his fastball, slider and changeup. While he barely used it, deGrom did throw a curveball 2.9% of the time.

The reason he does not throw that pitch often is because it is clearly his worst offering, as hitters actually batted .348 on deGrom’s curveball last year.

At the end of the day, deGrom is a fastball pitcher and everything else plays off that pitch. Spring training is the time to work on further developing his other pitches and an improved curveball would be a nice option to have in his back-pocket.

DeGrom recorded 10 outs in his sim game, throwing 51 pitches and striking out three batters.