Mets by the Numbers: DeGrom Makes His Citi Field Return

In this weekly feature for MMO, I’m going to look back at the previous week’s games and share some interesting data and information that I’ve collected through various websites such as Baseball-Reference, FanGraphs, and Baseball Savant. It’ll be a mixture of facts, stats, and analytics.

Let’s get into the seven days between August 7 and August 13.

Sunday, August 7, 2022

Braves vs. Mets

Jacob deGrom made his 2022 Citi Field debut with 5.2 innings of two-run ball with 12 strikeouts in the Mets’ 5-2 win over the Atlanta Braves. It was the 19th time in deGrom’s career that he fanned at least a dozen batters in a start. Only Tom Seaver has more 12+ strikeout games in Mets history with 24.

Sunday’s start was the 200th game of deGrom’s career. His 2.50 career ERA through 200 starts is the sixth-lowest among pitchers with at least 1,000 innings pitched since the ER became official in both leagues in 1913. Dutch Leonard (2.09), Carl Mays (2.23), Reb Russell (2.28), Red Faber (2.41), and Tom Seaver (2.42) are the five in front of deGrom.

Jacob deGrom recorded 25 swings and misses in his start, and 18 on his slider alone. He posted a 90 percent whiff rate on his slider, which was the highest against a single pitch type in an outing since pitches began being tracked in 2008 (min. 20 swings).

Mets pitchers combined for 19 strikeouts and just one walk. It was only the second time in franchise history that Mets pitching had 19+ strikeouts while allowing no more than one walk.  The first instance was October 6, 1991 (David Cone 19 strikeout game).

In 200 career starts, Jacob deGrom has 54 double-digit strikeout games. Only Nolan Ryan (59) and Randy Johnson (56) had more over their first 200 career games.

Monday, August 8, 2022

Reds vs. Mets

Chris Bassitt tossed eight innings of one-run ball (unearned) with eight strikeouts in the Mets’ 5-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds in the opening game of the three-game series. He tied a season high in innings pitched and set a new season high with 114 pitches.

Chris Bassitt is one of five pitchers this season to record multiple starts of at least eight innings pitched without allowing an earned run. Sandy Alcantara (5), Justin Verlander (3), Aaron Nola (3) and Triston McKenzie (2) are the others.

Through 21 starts, Chris Bassitt has recorded 130 innings pitched. That’s the most innings pitched by a Met in his first 21 games with the club since Jacob deGrom’s first 21 starts in 2014 (134.1 innings pitched).

Tuesday, August 9, 2022

Reds vs. Mets

Francisco Lindor hit his 20th home run of the season in the Mets’ 6-2 win over the Reds. Lindor became the first Mets shortstop in franchise history with multiple seasons of 20+ home runs (min. 75 percent played at shortstop).

Ten of Francisco Lindor’s 20 home runs have either tied the game or given the Mets the lead this season.

Carlos Carrasco started and tossed 6.2 innings of two-run ball for his 13th win of the season. Over his last seven starts dating back to July 3, Carrasco has posted a 1.69 ERA over 42.2 innings pitched. That’s the third-lowest ERA in that span among 54 pitchers with a min. 40 innings pitched.

Wednesday, August 10, 2022

Reds vs. Mets

Tyler Naquin went 2-for-4 with a double and home run in the Mets’ 10-2 win to sweep the Reds. Naquin became just one of eight Mets with at least seven extra-base hits in his first 10 games with the club.

Tyler Naquin’s home run traveled 439 feet to right-center in the third. That’s the third-longest home run hit by a Met at Citi Field this season. Pete Alonso (447 feet, May 19) and Francisco Lindor (440 feet, June 17) are the only hitters with farther homers at Citi Field.

Francisco Lindor went 2-for-3 with with a walk, two RBI, and three runs scored. It was Lindor’s 13th consecutive game with at least one run scored, tying David Wright (2008) for the longest streak in franchise history.

Pete Alonso went 3-for-5 with an RBI in the Mets’ win. It was the 36th time in Alonso’s career that he recorded 3+ hits in a game. That tied Todd Hundley and Ángel Pagán for the 25th-most in Mets history.

Friday, August 12, 2022

Phillies vs. Mets

Max Scherzer tossed seven innings of one-run ball in the Mets’ 2-1 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies in ten innings. Scherzer lowered his ERA to 1.93 through 16 starts in 2022. Only Al Leiter recorded a lower ERA in his first 16 starts with the Mets in 1998 (1.76).

Edwin Díaz tossed a scoreless ninth inning with two strikeouts. It was the 33rd time this season where Díaz recorded 2+ strikeouts in a relief appearance. That’s the most among relievers this season, and ten more than the second-place pitcher in Josh Hader (23).

Saturday, August 13, 2022

Phillies vs. Mets

Jacob deGrom tossed six shutout innings with no walks and 10 strikeouts in the Mets’ 1-0 win. Over his last 18 starts dating back to the start of the 2021 season, deGrom has posted a minuscule 1.16 ERA with 174 strikeouts. deGrom is one of four pitchers with a sub-1.20 ERA and 170+ strikeouts in any 18-game span, joining J.R. Richard, Pedro Martínez, and Clayton Kershaw.

Jacob deGrom picked up his 79th career victory in the Mets’ 1-0 win. It was the first time that deGrom had earned a win with a score of 1-0.