New York Mets’ deGrom is undeniably dialed in
Whether or not you’re one to find any value or substance in the sophomore slump theory, Jacob deGrom appears to not distracted with any nonsense of such terminology. The New York Mets pitcher is somewhat of an anomaly. A diamond in the rough for them, he’s better than any Major League Baseball team could have hoped for from a ninth round pick.
Tyler Lyons of the St. Louis Cardinals is probably the next most relevant name to come out of that round in the 2010 draft. But Lyons is hardly doing what deGrom is. Few starting pitcher’s in the league right now are.
Perhaps his low draft stock is rooted in being a by-product of his collegiate background. Attending a smaller, private school in Central Florida, deGrom played for the Stetson University Hatters. Last year’s ace of the American League, Cleveland’s Corey Kluber, attended the same school and was drafted in the fourth round three years previous to deGrom by the Padres. Kluber is another example of a very good pitcher not getting great publicity coming out of the collegiate ranks.
In 2014 deGrom laid down a magnificent rookie season. Reds outfielder Billy Hamilton finished a distant second place in NL Rookie of the Year voting. In a year absent of Matt Harvey‘s offerings, deGrom served as the most productive and valuable asset the Mets’ pitching staff had, and he only threw 140.1 innings, finishing with 3.5 wins above replacement.
The tall right-hander’s approach is simple; limit a lot of bases on balls and keep hitter’s guessing with great command of a five pitch repertoire. DeGrom throws a four-seamer, two-seamer, slider, curveball and change-up, using them all well and often.
After limiting opponents to a 2.69 ERA in his rookie season and a FIP of 2.67, some setbacks in 2015 could still be on the horizon for the second half. But as of right now, deGrom is improving every step of the way. He logged his 12th quality start Thursday afternoon against the Brewers, blanking them over seven innings. It was the eighth time this season in 15 starts he had pitched six or more innings while allowing one or zero earned runs. His ERA in the month of June now sits at 1.21.
DeGrom shrunk his ERA down to 2.15 after winning against Milwaukee, good for the fifth lowest mark in the National League. He also has the fifth best batting average against in the NL at .208 and is tied for third in wins and seventh in strikeouts. With all the publicity being on Harvey’s comeback season in Flushing, Queens this year, Jacob deGrom is flying under the radar. Just don’t try telling him or any Mets fan that he’s the Dark Knight’s sidekick.