Jacob deGrom Looked Dominant In First Grapefruit League Start For New York Mets
After a nerve injury forced him to miss the final month of the 2016 season, New York Mets starting pitcher Jacob deGrom is trying to return to top form this year. He got off to a good start on Saturday when he made his first start of spring training.
In his first Grapefruit League start, Jacob deGrom looked like his old self. Even though it is only spring training, this is still a very good sign for him and the New York Mets.
DeGrom took the mound for the Mets on Saturday afternoon in West Palm Beach against the Houston Astros. He looked very impressive in the two innings that he pitched, retiring the side in order during both innings. Not only did he not allow a hit or a walk, but deGrom also recorded three strikeouts. The Mets went on to defeat the Astros 3-1.
Jacob deGrom’s workday is finished. Two perfect innings.
— Marc Carig (@MarcCarig) March 4, 2017
During the 2016 season, deGrom had problems with his velocity. He had season-ending surgery in September to repair the ulnar nerve in his right elbow. At this point, deGrom had made 24 starts. He was 7-8 on the year and had a 3.04 ERA.
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For the most part, deGrom did not let the nerve issue impact his performance. He was able to pitch through the injury for the majority of the season. However, it finally got to the point where he needed to have surgery to avoid further damage.
Going off of what we saw during his first start since the surgery, it looks like deGrom has his velocity back. Abbey Mastracco of NJ Advance Media reported that his fastball reached 97 mph.
deGrom struck out Josh Reddick on a 97 MPH high fastball. Doing ok in his first spring game.
— Abbey Mastracco (@AbbeyMastracco) March 4, 2017
It’s going to be very important for deGrom to get his velocity back up this season. Although his overall numbers were decent in 2016, he did not record as many strikeouts as usual. In 148 innings pitched, deGrom had 143 strikeouts.
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This meant that he averaged less than one strikeout per inning. He recorded 205 strikeouts in 191 innings pitched during the 2015 season. He went 14-8 with an ERA of 2.54 that year. If he can return to his 2015 form, deGrom has a chance to be one of the best pitchers in the National League.
DeGrom was not the only one who had a significant injury last year. Matt Harvey had season-ending shoulder surgery in June. Steven Matz needed to have surgery in September to repair a bone spur in his pitching elbow. This forced him to miss the remainder of the season.
Zack Wheeler was supposed to return at some point in 2016, but he suffered a setback in his recovery from Tommy John surgery. This caused the Mets to decide to shut him down for the rest of the season. If all of these guys stay healthy this year, the Mets could have a stellar starting rotation.
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From what we saw on Saturday, deGrom appears to be on the right track to making a comeback this season. This is exactly what the Mets wanted to see in his first spring training start.