Jacob DeGrom Brilliant In Return

Three hundred and ninety-one days.

Jacob deGrom made his much-anticipated return to the major league mound on Tuesday against the Washington Nationals. Shut down with a stress reaction in his scapula during Spring Training, deGrom rehabbed for months to make his season debut.

DeGrom came out firing. He casually tossed a baseball 99 miles per hour on his first pitch. By the time he threw his third pitch, he turned it up to 102 miles per hour. Seven of his 15 first-inning pitches reached triple digits.

DeGrom lasted five innings during his season debut. He needed 59 pitches to record the 15 outs against a minor-league Nationals lineup.

“I was able to make pitches when I needed to,” deGrom said. “That was encouraging.”

Over his five innings, deGrom allowed one run on three hits and struck out six batters.

“I felt good,” deGrom said. “I definitely had some nerves but it was also definitely exciting to be out there. I wish for a different outcome but happy to be pitching. There were definitely more nerves than normal.

The Mets did end up losing deGrom’s first start back, 5-1. Francisco Lindor drove in the only New York run of the game with a solo homer in the sixth inning.

Questions arose about whether deGrom would be able to pitch on normal rest for the remainder of the season. That’s the current plan at least with the ace expected to take the mound again on Sunday against the Atlanta Braves.

The Mets and Braves will play five of their remaining 12 games against one another this weekend. New York currently holds a 2.5 game lead in the division but they’re finally at full strength in the rotation with Max Scherzer and deGrom pitching back-to-back.

“I’ve been looking forward to being here all year,” deGrom said.

The stretch run starts now and the Mets just got the best player in baseball for it.