Stat Line: (W 12-6) 7.2 IP, 1 R, 5 H, 6 SO, 1 BB
Jacob deGrom proved he doesn’t need his best command to be deGrominant. Similar to Matt Harvey against the Colorado Rockies last week, deGrom struggled commanding his pitches knee high and low in the strike zone. In order to adapt, deGrom attacked the strike zone throwing 70% of his pitches for strikes. Specifically, deGrom threw 76% strike rate with his fastball.
DeGrom also put heavier reliance on his curveball and changeup. This helped him stay unpredictable, helping keep opposing Baltimore Orioles off-balance translating to a low 10% line drive rate and high 60% ground ball rate.
Get Ahead, Stay Ahead
It is essential getting ahead and staying ahead of Orioles hitters this season. In 2015, the Orioles are batting .297 with a .517 slugging percentage when ahead in the count. Conversely, when hitting behind in the count the Orioles batting average is .202 with a slugging percentage of .324.
DeGrom controlled nearly every at-bat, throw 78% first pitch strikes. Additionally, he stayed ahead of hitters, only falling behind in the count in 10 of the 28 Oriole at-bats. Even in the 10 at-bats he fell behind, deGrom battled back even or induced a ball in play for an out in eight of those 10 at-bats.
Mixing Pitches
The first time through the Orioles batting order, deGrom attacked primarily with fastballs accounting for 71% of his total pitches. After the third inning, deGrom altered his approach, throwing 57% fastballs to 43% off speed pitches. This resulted in off speed pitches producing eight of the 14 outs during that span as opposed to only one of the first nine outs during the first three innings.
After throwing first pitch fastballs to all of the first eight batters he faced, deGrom flipped the script, starting 12 of the following 20 Orioles with off speed pitches.
This unpredictability in pitch selection caused hesitant swings and weak contact from the fourth through eighth innings excluding Gerardo Parra’s sixth inning homerun.
Looking Forward
DeGrom’s next start will likely come against the Philadelphia Phillies early next week. He has been deGrominant against the Phillies this season allowing 1 earned run, striking out 12 and holding them to a .315 slugging percentage over 13.2 innings.
Stat of the Night
@ESPNStatsInfo provides a look into deGrom’s place in Mets single season pitching history here.
Statistics thanks to MLB.com and @BrooksBaseball.
Follow Chris Zaccherio on Twitter @ziography for more Mets pitching insight that goes beyond statistics.
