WASHINGTON — Yup, he still is Jacob deGrom.
In his highly anticipated, long-awaited, much-delayed return to a major-league mound — for the first time in more than a year — deGrom mostly looked like his same old self against the Nationals. He allowed one run in five innings, striking out six and walking none in the Mets’ eventual 5-1 loss, snapping their season-high seven-game winning streak.
Most significantly, perhaps, he seemed to feel totally fine physically after dealing with elbow problems last year and a stress reaction in his right shoulder blade this year. That he exited after 59 pitches was not a surprise, based on his recent workloads in the minors, and indeed that he got through as much of the game as he did on such a limited pitch count was a plus.
