Jacob deGrom using scrimmages to finish preparing for season
New York Mets starting pitcher Jacob deGrom (48) warms up before the first inning of a spring training baseball game against the Houston Astros Sunday, March 11, 2018, in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Credit: AP / John Bazemore
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — When Jacob deGrom sees the Cardinals on March 31 at Citi Field, with Marcell Ozuna & Co. staring back at him, the Mets’ ace will be coming off back-to-back intrasquad scrimmages, due to a few quirks in the Grapefruit League schedule down the stretch. The biggest name deGrom tangled with Wednesday was Tim Tebow, and that duel was artificially cut short when he fouled back pitch No. 88 — the designated ceiling for deGrom’s start, which was his longest of the spring.
Obviously, battling teammates and the organization’s minor-leaguers is different than the usual competitive vibe, but deGrom is confident that his preparation won’t be lacking when the regular season kicks off. In Wednesday’s scrimmage, a flexible six-inning stint designed to stretch out deGrom’s pitch count, he struck out 10.
“It doesn’t have the same adrenaline,” deGrom said after Wednesday’s outing. “But my stuff has been pretty good.”
The most critical part of spring training, for any member of the Mets’ rotation, is to finish up healthy and deGrom has shown zero signs of any lingering issues from the back stiffness that briefly sidelined him last month. Next up for deGrom is Monday’s scrimmage against Triple-A Las Vegas, and that brief tune-up should have him on point for the Cardinals.
“He threw the ball well, and in a setting like this, it can be tough,” Mickey Callaway said.
As for the rest of the rotation, Zack Wheeler starts Thursday night against the Nationals, followed by Rafael Montero. Noah Syndergaard will pitch in a minor-league game Saturday and and Steven Matz is expected to start Sunday in a split-squad game against the Marlins. That sets up those two to join deGrom for the opening series against the Cardinals.
Futures game
The Mets set up Wednesday’s scrimmage for deGrom, but they also got a sneak preview of another No. 1 — as in last year’s first-round draft pick, David Peterson. The former Oregon star, who went 11-4 with a 2.51 ERA while striking out 140 and walking only 16 in his final collegiate season, mostly faced Michael Conforto, who went 2-for-6 against him with a long homer, a single and two strikeouts.
“He looked composed out there, under control for as big of a guy as he is,” Callaway said. “If I were a pitching coach analyzing what he is doing, I’d like to see him use his lower half a little bit better, because there’s probably some extra stuff in the tank that he’s not using. But he’s a really impressive young guy.”
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
