Well it looks like Sandy Alderson didn’t agree with my pleas to give Jake deGrom the start on Friday…
He unambiguously shot down the idea last night, and said that “DeGrom is not on the table.”
Instead, the Mets have decided to take Carlos Torres out of the bullpen where he has done a stellar job, and put him back into the rotation.
Torres has a 1.49 ERA in 19 relief appearances this season, and in three starts for the Mets he has a 6.54 ERA with 24 baserunners and ten earned runs in 14.0 innings pitched.
Here are the projected weekend matchups against the Tigers:
Friday: Carlos Torres vs. Doug Fister
Saturday: Matt Harvey vs. Max Scherzer
Sunday: Dillon Gee vs. Rick Porcello
Jake deGrom will still pitch on Friday, however it will be for Triple-A Las Vegas…
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Original Post
Despite the loss of Jenrry Mejia from the rotation, the Mets till intend on giving Matt Harvey an extra day of rest, as originally planned, leaving Friday wide open for a yet to be determined starter.
Terry Collins told reporters that Carlos Torres could rejoin the rotation and make that Friday start, but other options include Jacob deGrom, Giancarlo Alvarado, Chris Schwinden and Matt Fox.
I’ve been jockeying for a promotion for deGrom for two weeks now – ever since Jeremy Hefner became a casualty of war as well.
Matt Musico of MetsMinors.net and contributor here at MMO makes a good case for deGrom as well this morning:
If Jacob deGrom was auditioning for a MLB roster spot last night with Jenrry Mejia now on the disabled list, he did a good job against the Salt Lake Bees. The right-hander didn’t factor in the decision, but took a perfect game into the sixth inning for his third straight quality start. He ended up allowing two runs on two hits, two walks, and three strikeouts in six innings pitched for the 51s.
It will be interesting to see whether or not deGrom gets a start or two at the big league level sometime this season. He would need to be added to the 40-man to do so, and he’s likely nearing an innings limit.
After tossing 111.1 innings in his first season back from Tommy John surgery, the product of Stetson University has thrown 140.2 frames in 2013 between three levels of the minor leagues. The Mets normally have an organization-wide innings limit at around 30 innings more than the prior season, and deGrom is currently sitting at that limit.
To add to Matt’s points, deGrom needs to be added to the 40 Man Roster anyway as we first mentioned back in April. But here is my bigger point… I get the whole innings limit thing, believe me I do… But from what I’ve been told he is not being shutdown in from his next start on Friday for Las Vegas, so why can’t he be added to the 40 and make that start in Citi Field for the Mets?
Furthermore, I am fully on board with protecting the arms of our 19-23 year old pitching prospects, but deGrom is 25 and there’s no chance he approached anything close to to 180 innings this season if he maintains the same pace.
My point is that he should get the call, especially if he’s going to continue to pitch for Triple-A Vegas anyway. Lets see what he has and where he may fit in as we evaluate things for the 2014 season.
If deGrom only has three starts left in him, then let him make them in the big-leagues where we can better ascertain a future course of action for him.
Whether it’s this week or next month, he has to be added to the 40 man roster anyway. And with Cesar Puello and Jordany Valdespin on the Restricted List, we have two available spots on the 40 anyway… That’s right… The Mets have two open spots on their 40 Man anyway…
DeGrom is 4-2 with a 3.93 ERA in 12 starts for Las Vegas in the Pacific Coast League. Not mind-boggling, but they can’t all be like Rafael Montero who is definitely not an option and doesn’t have to be added to the 40 and protected from the Rule 5 Draft anyway.
This is a no-brainer…
(Photo Credit: Gordon Donovan)
