Jacob DeGrom Strikes Out 15 in Two-Hit Shutout

There are not many things Jacob deGrom can do on a baseball field that would come as a surprise to Mets fans anymore. DeGrom has established himself as not only the best pitcher in baseball, but also as a dangerous hitter at the plate. The two-time Cy Young Award winner had has pitching and hitting abilities on full display against the Juan Soto-less Nationals on Friday night at Citi Field.

DeGrom set the tone for the night quickly by striking out Andrew Stevenson with a 101 mph fastball before getting Josh Harrison reaching for a slider for his second strikeout. A weak groundout from Trea Turner got deGrom through the first inning in dominant fashion.

After a strikeout of Josh Bell and fly out from Kyle Schwarber to begin the second inning, Starlin Castro ripped a two-out single to right field to give Washington their first baserunner of the night. DeGrom followed the hit with a strikeout of Yan Gomes, setting a new Mets record for strikeouts in the first four starts of a season with 39. The record was previously held by Noah Syndergaard and Pedro Martinez.

Both Victor Robles and Erick Fedde were unable to put the ball in play against the Mets’ ace, striking out to record the first two outs of the third inning. Stevenson hit a line drive back up the middle that looked like it would be caught, but Brandon Nimmo appeared to be unsure if he would be able to make a play on the ball, which led to the ball hitting off his wrist and rolling away for a double. DeGrom was able to strand the runner by retiring Harrison on a ground ball to Francisco Lindor.

From that point on, the game was all deGrom. The heart of the Nationals order was due up in the fourth, and the right-hander made quick work of them, striking out Turner and Schwarber with a fly out from Josh Bell in between.

DeGrom struck out Castro to begin the inning before retiring Gomes and Robles to get through another one-two-three inning.

In the bottom half of the inning, a J.D. Davis hit by pitch and a Jeff McNeil walk put deGrom in a position to help himself. Batting eighth in the lineup, deGrom roped a double down the left field line to put the Mets ahead 1-0. A Nimmo single drove in McNeil and deGrom, giving the Mets a 3-0 lead.

The sixth inning began with with deGrom striking out pinch-hitter Jordy Mercer. It was his tenth strikeout of the game, and the 49th time he has reached double-digit strikeouts in his career. He struck out the side, getting both Stevenson and Harrison, to finish the inning.

Needing three more strikeouts to set a new career high, deGrom took the mound in the seventh inning with Turner, Bell and Schwarber due up. In typical deGrom fashion, he struck out the side for the second inning in a row to set a new career high with 15 strikeouts. The strikeout of Bell made deGrom the third pitcher in MLB history to strikeout 14 batters in three straight games.

The Nationals were still unable to figure out deGrom in the eighth inning. In the top half of the inning, deGrom fielded a comebacker to retire Castro. A fly out from Gomes and a ground out from Robles had deGrom through eight scoreless innings.

With the pitcher’s spot in the lineup due up second in the bottom half of the inning, deGrom came out of the dugout to a standing ovation and MVP chants from the Citi Field crowd and ripped a single to right field. He came around to score on a two-run home run from Nimmo.

In today’s game, it is rare for a pitcher to return for another inning after reaching the 100-pitch mark, but even before he went out to hit in the bottom of the eighth inning, there seemed to be little doubt that the Met’s ace would be going back out to finish the game. He retired Yadiel Hernandez, Stevenson and Harrison on three ground balls to complete the second complete game shutout of his career.

DeGrom allowed only two hits and no walks over nine shutout innings while striking out 15 Nationals. He finished the game by retiring the final 19 Nationals. At the plate, he finished 2-for-3 with an RBI double and two runs scored.

“He has to be from different planet, because he does things that are just out of this world,” Nimmo said following the game. “He single-handedly won and controlled the game.”

DeGrom is no stranger to unbelievable stats and setting records. Since it may have been difficult to keep up with everything he accomplished, here is a list of some stats and accolades from Friday night.

• DeGrom struck out 15 batters, setting a new career high.
• DeGrom’s 49 double-digit strikeout games are second in Mets history behind Tom Seaver (60.)
• DeGrom joins Pedro Martinez and Gerrit Cole as the only pitchers in MLB history to strikeout 14 batters in three straight starts
• DeGrom is the first pitcher in MLB history to strikeout 50 batters in his first four starts. The previous record was 48, held by Nolan Ryan and Shane Bieber.
• This was deGrom’s second complete game shutout. The first came in July 2016 in Philadelphia.
• DeGrom increased his batting average to .545 while lowering his ERA to 0.31. He has driven in two runs and scored two runs while only allowing one earned run.
• DeGrom has a five game hitting streak dating back to last season. He is the first Mets’ pitcher with a five game hitting streak since Mike Hampton in 2000.
• DeGrom is the first Mets’ pitcher to strikeout 15 batters in a game since Al Leiter in 1999.

DeGrom taking over a game on the mound or producing a big hit is nothing new. The former Stetson University shortstop has two Cy Young Awards and has driven in 25 runs at the plate in his career, but the dominant outing on both sides of the ball on Friday night has fans not only dreaming of a third Cy Young Award, but believing he can make a run at an MVP Award.

“Obviously it would be cool to win MVP,” deGrom said. “We’ll see if we can keep this thing going.”