It appears the New York Mets are getting ready to take off the kid’s gloves when managing Jacob deGrom‘s workload this season.
The ace made his season debut on Tuesday after missing the whole season to this point while dealing with a stress reaction on his right scapula.
Despite the Mets dropping the game against the hapless Nationals, it was a success because deGrom played, pitched well, and made it through the outing in one piece.
Mets pitching coach Jeremy Hefner confirmed that last sentence, according to New York Post Mets beat reporter Mike Puma.
“Mets pitching coach Jeremy Hefner said Jacob deGrom felt good today, following last night’s first outing. ‘We’re trending the right way,’ Hefner said. ‘The plane is taking off,'” Puma tweeted.
Mets pitching coach Jeremy Hefner said Jacob deGrom felt good today, following last night's first outing. "We're trending the right way," Hefner said. "The plane is taking off."
— Mike Puma (@NYPost_Mets) August 3, 2022
That’s music to Mets’ fans ears: “the plane is taking off.”
A Healthy deGrom Is Bad News For MLB Hitters
That is, obviously, bad news for the rest of the league.
For the first time in the year, the Mets could have their vaunted 1-2 punch of Max Scherzer and deGrom pitch in consecutive days.
deGrom hurled five solid innings in which he allowed just a single run on three hits.
He didn’t walk anybody and struck out six hitters.
That “plane” had 92 innings of a 1.08 ERA last season before injuries derailed his year in July.
Have you ever seen such a low ERA by a starter in such a significant sample size?
That’s what we thought.
A healthy deGrom would form a lethal pairing with Scherzer in the postseason.
Opposing teams could potentially see one of them in three or four games of a hypothetical seven-game series.
Hopefully he can remain healthy and remind those who forgot just how talented he is: the best pitcher on Earth.
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