For the second night in a row, the New York Mets marched out one of their pitching prospects to make their major league debut. On Wednesday night it was Rafael Montero and on Thursday night it was Jacob deGrom.
DeGrom was originally called up to pitch out of the bullpen, but a stint on the disabled list by Dillon Gee changed all of that.
In a start that wasn’t as heralded as Montero’s, deGrom came out and baffled the Yankee hitters just about all night. He was reaching in the mid-90′s and was able to execute his secondary pitches which led to his success. He threw the pitch for strikes 66 percent of the time.
The only blemish on his night came in the 7th inning when a missed opportunity on a double play, extended the inning for the Yankees which led to an RBI single by Alfonso Soriano.
Jacob deGrom’s line for the night: 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 6 K, on 91 pitches
“It makes you feel good when you go and your debut is good,” deGrom would say. “It’s a feeling I’ll probably never have again. It was really cool.”
He became the first pitcher in Mets history to allow no more than one run over seven innings who took the loss in his debut, according to ESPN. The last Mets starter to allow one run to lose his debut was current Mets broadcaster Ron Darling in 1983.
“I was very, very impressed,” manager Terry Collins said. “As the game went on, he got better.”
Prior to Thursday night’s game against the Yankees, the Mets pitchers were 0-for-the season at the plate. In his first major league at-bat, deGrom singled to left ending the historic drought.
It is very unfortunate that the Mets couldn’t score any runs for him and he is the pitcher of record on the losing side if the score holds up. He left the game trailing 1-0.
David Wright was ecstatic over both deGrom and Montero’s performance. “It’s amazing. You can’t say enough good things about those two guys.”
“deGrom’s performance tonight was spectacular. Some of the guys that got on third were very complimenting on both those guys. That’s good to hear from a good lineup. Both of those guys are going to be good ones.”
“It just goes to show you the poise and composure with both those guys in their first big-league start, at home, in front of a big crowd, against the Yankees, and they stay that calm and end up giving you those types of performances. That’s solid.”
deGrom is scheduled to make his second start on Wednesday against the Los Angeles Dodgers. There was a lot to be excited about these past two days as the future may be now for the Mets.
It will be interesting to see what happens in the rotation when Gee is activated from the disabled list, but for now we can enjoy the glimpse we are getting from two promising arms who should be a big part of a bright future.
