Photo by James Farrance

Jacob deGrom made his third rehab start on Thursday night. Unlike the first two, which were each at the Single-A level, this one was for Triple-A Syracuse. Worth noting, he was caught by Mets’ top prospect Francisco Álvarez. DeGrom’s pitch limit in this outing was scheduled to be approximately 50 or four innings.

DeGrom, who faced the Marlins’ Triple-A affiliate Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, threw pitches 42 over four innings. He struck out four, all swinging and three via his off-speed pitches, and only walked one. He gave up just two hits and did not allow an earned run. Another successful rehab start.

DeGrom got the night going with a three-pitch strikeout. Two 98-MPH fastballs followed by a 100-MPH fastball that generated a swinging strike three. He then induced a fly out to left field by Willians Astudillo. And then a fly out to center field by Lewin Diaz. He threw 10 pitches in the first inning.

Jerar Encarnación, the highly-touted Marlins’ prospect who hit a grand slam against the New York Mets earlier this season, lined a 98-MPH fastball to right field for a leadoff double to begin the second inning. After walking the second batter in the inning, deGrom induced a 6-4-3 double play. He followed this up with a strikeout swinging via a 91-mph off-speed pitch. DeGrom threw 12 pitches in the second inning.

In the third inning, Jacksonville scored an unearned run. The two-time Cy Young winner started the inning by inducing a strikeout swinging via a 93-MPH wipeout slider headed out of the zone. After a single, which also featured an error during the play, the second batter of the inning reached second base with one out. After the runner advanced to third on a fly ball, he scored via a 99-MPH wild pitch. DeGrom got the last batter of the inning, Willians Astudillo, who rarely strikes out, swinging at another wipeout slider. He sat at 35 pitches through three innings.

DeGrom quickly got the fourth inning’s first batter to ground out to the left side. On the third pitch of the inning, he got Encarnación to fly out to right field. DeGrom then promptly got the third batter of the inning to pop out in the infield. Jacob only threw seven pitches in the inning.

That fourth inning spelled the end of deGrom’s third rehab start. This was the limit pre-imposed on him before the game. He was once again very effective, showcasing an electric slider to pick up a few strikeouts. DeGrom’s fastball largely sat around 99 MPH, as, according to the broadcast, he hit triple digits on just three of his 42 pitches. In all, deGrom has yet to allow an earned run over 8 2/3 rehab innings pitched.

After the game, deGrom was asked when he will be brought back up. He answered with, “I’m not sure, that’ll be a discussion we have in the following week or so.”

His final line: 4 IP, 2 H, 1 R (0 ER), 1 BB, 4 SO, 42 pitches