Jacob deGrom sensational over seven innings as Mets shut out Padres
Jacob deGrom of the Mets pitches during the second inning against the Padres at Citi Field on Thursday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Now that the Mets are willing to hear offers for closer Edwin Diaz, virtually all of their brand-name pitchers are being mentioned in trade rumors during this final week before the July 31 deadline. All, that is, except for one: Jacob deGrom.
His performance on Thursday underscored why the club signed the righthander to a five-year deal during the offseason. DeGrom was sensational as he spun seven shutout innings as the Mets scored a 4-0 victory over San Diego before 37,822 at Citi Field.
The win gives the Mets their third series win in four since the All-Star break, their first home series win since the first week of June and a 7-4 mark in the second half.
Still amid the good news, there is one concern: Diaz took Manny Machado’s line drive off the big toe on his left foot in the ninth inning and was forced from the game. X-rays on the toe were negative.
DeGrom allowed just four hits and one walk, striking out nine over the 105-pitch effort.
Of course nothing brings out the best in the 2018 NL Cy Young Award winner like a day game, where he is one of baseball’s all-time best. deGrom has a 1.86 ERA in 26 career day-game starts, the lowest in baseball since 1913.
He was especially devastating with a slider he threw 56 times. On one he called “probably my best slider of the day,” he whiffed Francisco Mejia in corkscrew fashion; the Padres catcher swung wildly, lost his batting helmet and just caught himself with his hand from landing on the ground.
DeGrom said that after a wild bullpen warmup he saw how good it was on the diamond and “That’s why I kept throwing it. It had good depth on it and they weren’t seeing it well.”
“To me it looks just like my fastball, down and away. You throw a pitch down and away, they take it. Then you throw a couple sliders and it looks like the fastball and I’m getting swing and misses on it.”
“It’s probably the best,” manager Mickey Callaway said. “The velo, break, the way it plays off his fastball — it looks exactly the same. It’s a devastating weapon when he’s got it going. Even when it’s not at its best, it’s a tick above average. When it’s like it was today, it’s probably the best slider in baseball.”
Giving deGrom run support hasn’t exactly been the Mets’ forte — he is 6-7 with a 2.86 ERA and has a 1.74 ERA in seven no-decisions this season — but they got him four runs in the first inning. Todd Frazier, who was in a 10-for-60 skid, had a two-run double off the glove of diving leftfielder Hunter Renfroe. Michael Conforto added a run-scoring single and Wilson Ramos a sacrifice fly. Conforto, Juan Lagares, J.D. Davis and Frazier all finished with two hits.
Frazier eschewed a full night’s sleep to return at 7 a.m. to work on his hitting. He said he and hitting coaches Chili Davis and Tom Slater looked at video of his swing from when he broke in with Cincinnati to his days with the White Sox and Mets to find an answer.
“I had to go back to the drawing board,” said Frazier, who was 2-for-3 and drew two walks. “I lost it there for a little bit, basically swinging at everything. . . . I felt a lot more relaxed at the plate and under control.”
The suddenly-resurgent Mets’ bullpen has posted a NL-best 3.07 ERA since the All-Star break and it handled the game the rest of the way, despite the injury to Diaz.
Seth Lugo handled the eighth, retiring the side in order with a pair of strikeouts. Diaz started the ninth but Machado hit a full-count pitch that went 100 mph off the bat and struck Diaz’s toe.
“He was a little sore so we decided we didn’t want to make any pitches where he had to brace his delivery with that foot,” Callaway said. “If he’s sore and trying to balance himself, it could change his mechanics.”
Luis Avilan came on to get the last three outs.
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
