Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

When the New York Mets made one of the more aggressive moves of the offseason by going all out to hand a three-year, $130 million contract to Max Scherzer, the excitement was palpable in Queens. Not just because one of the most fierce and accomplished pitchers in the sport was going to be pitching at Citi Field but also because the Mets now had one of the most formidable two-headed monsters in MLB to spearhead their rotation.

Pairing Scherzer with elite ace Jacob deGrom gave the Mets a lethal one-two punch that the rest of baseball could only dream of having, one that would strike fear into the hearts of even the most loaded lineups in baseball. Having two of the best to ever do it at the top of the rotation also ensured that the Mets had a nice level of depth and balance with the rest of their pitching staff.

However, the Mets’ hopes of starting the season with deGrom on the mound followed by Scherzer the next day were quickly ruined when the former had to go on the shelf after suffering a stress reaction in his shoulder. With deGrom not pitching in a big league game until the dog days of summer and with Max Scherzer also missing some time, Mets fans have been robbed of the chance of witnessing two of the greats pitch in the same rotation together.

Good things do come to those who wait, though. That has been the case in deGrom’s first month back in the majors with the deadly duo coming exactly as advertised. The Mets envisioned what having deGrom and Scherzer in the same rotation could look like and the results it could yield, but the end product has been far greater. It has offered a tantalizing glimpse of the destruction the pair could cause to opposing lineups in October.

Since returning to the mound, deGrom has been unstoppable and has quickly reminded the entire baseball world why he’s the best pitcher in the game right now. He has mowed through lineup after lineup while producing breathtaking start after breathtaking start. Put simply, deGrom wasted little time in returning to the peak of his powers, and the results have been jaw-dropping.

After his first month back, here is where deGrom ranks among starters with at least 20 innings pitched:

  • Strikeouts – 1st (55)
  • ERA – 14th (1.98)
  • WHIP – 1st (0.55)
  • K% – 1st (43.0)
  • BB% – 3rd (2.3)
  • OBP against – 1st (.156)
  • IP – 12th (36.1)

Those are some pretty impressive stats to back up the equally impressive eye test, and the exciting news for the Mets is that deGrom should only get better and more locked in with the more innings he pitches down the stretch. So, in theory, come playoff time, deGrom will just be reaching his peak. And that’s bad news for the rest of baseball.

Now, in that same timeframe, Scherzer has also been dealing. He led the majors in innings pitched (40.2) with a 2.66 ERA. The three-time Cy Young Award winner also ranked third in strikeouts with 44. That is utter domination, and that’s what you get when you go out and sign a big-ticket future Hall of Famer in the offseason.

It is also what you get when you have two of the best arms in the game in the same rotation. And, while the Mets had to wait longer than they wanted to in order to see their two-headed monster ensconced at the top of the rotation together, it has been worth it. The pair started back-to-back games three times in the early weeks of August, combining for just six earned runs on 25 hits and three walks in 37 1/3 innings with 50 strikeouts. That is what you call sheer domination, and the two Mets aces have performed exactly how it was dreamt up when they were put together back in the winter.

And, if deGrom and Scherzer can continue to pitch to historic levels as co-aces and perhaps get even better, then the Mets could well enter October with perhaps the biggest weapon in all of baseball at their disposal as they go in search of winning a first World Series since 1986.