Jacob deGrom is back.
For the first time this year, the New York Mets sent their ace out to the mound.
deGrom had been out since the end of spring training with a shoulder injury and had spent the past several months rehabbing.
But last night, he finally got a chance to pitch in a Major League game.
The Mets limited his pitch count, but he was as efficient as ever, throwing five innings of one-run ball.
He looked like his old self again.
On Twitter, Mets insider Anthony DiComo posted a recap of deGrom’s night, but also posed an interesting question.
Jacob deGrom's final line in his season debut:
5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, 59 pitches.
deGrom hit 102 mph on the gun and averaged 100 with his fastball. In every way but endurance, he looked like his old self.
Now, the question becomes his ability to do it every fifth game.
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) August 3, 2022
deGrom Returns To Form
deGrom looked great in his first game back off the injured list.
There are still some question marks, however.
The Mets were smart to limit his pitch count given his injury history, but the question does remain about whether or not he’ll be able to dominate every fifth day like he had been for so many years.
His line last night suggests that he’ll be able to do it once he’s fully built up.
There are still some hurdles to jump through here for the Mets.
He is healthy, but he needs to be built back up to where he can go deeper into games and throw more pitches.
He only threw 59 pitches in Tuesday night’s game at Nationals Park.
His skill level isn’t really the question here.
We all know what deGrom is capable of and that it should never be a surprise to see him pitch as well and as efficiently as he did last night.
The question now is how deep he’ll be able to go in games and how many pitches the Mets can expect him to be able to throw.
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