PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — As batters are just getting used to seeing live pitching again, facing Jacob deGrom continues to be unfair.
The Mets ace hurled two shutout innings and struck out five of the seven batters he faced in his Grapefruit League debut against the Astros on Tuesday at Clover Park. His fastball topped out at 99 mph and he was finished after 30 pitches in his first time facing another team in over eight months.
“I was nervous to be honest with you,” deGrom said after his outing. “First time facing another team, guys in another uniform, I was a little nervous. The main thing I worked on this offseason, I feel like it carried over pretty well today. It was just being really smooth down the mound. That was the main concern today, and everything felt good. Felt like I was in-sync and I was able to locate the ball pretty well, so I was happy with how the day went.”
Since Tuesday’s exhibition game against Houston was a night game, starting pitchers typically leave the park whenever their work is finished. But this wasn’t just any nightcap for one such starter. Max Scherzer was asked on Monday, after his five-inning outing against the Marlins, whether he would stick around to watch deGrom’s spring debut. Scherzer said he would, and on Tuesday he stuck to his word.
Scherzer leaned on the dugout railing and intently watched the Mets ace do his thing, making sure to tap deGrom’s back and exchange a few words when his outing was over.
“We were laughing,” deGrom said of his pregame conversation with Scherzer. “He said, ‘How about you flip in a first-pitch curveball?’ I did it, and looked over at him and laughed. It’s fun. I’ve enjoyed the time I’ve been around him and already learning from him, picking his brain. He’s been in this game a long time and he’s going to be a Hall of Famer, so anytime you can be around guys like that, it’s awesome.”
Much like Scherzer, Mets fans — even though this was a spring training game — were hanging on every deGrom pitch. The anticipation in the stadium was palpable as the crowd roared and applauded after each strikeout. After all, fans waited longer than the usual offseason to watch the two-time Cy Young winner return to the hill and flummox opposing batters.
DeGrom last year dealt with a variety of injuries that caused him to miss time. Elbow inflammation was the one injury that kept him out after July 7, which deGrom said last week is completely behind him now. And some of his 2021 injuries, deGrom said last year, he thought were caused by taking hacks at the plate. So the Mets can certainly find solace in the universal designated hitter being implemented this year because it means their most valuable player will be limited to the job at which he’s best: pitching.
Mets pitching coach Jeremy Hefner said he would be looking for one thing from deGrom in his spring debut: making sure he came out of it healthy. Hefner said he doesn’t necessarily care about the results or how hard he’s throwing at this time of the year.
But looking forward, Hefner doesn’t exactly expect deGrom to dial it back, though it’s a point of discussion between the pitching coach and Mets ace. The two-time Cy Young winner has been throwing harder as he gets older; he eclipsed 103 mph on his fastball in his age-33 season in 2021. But Hefner mentioned that deGrom averaged 96 mph on his fastball during both of his Cy Young seasons in 2018 and 2019, so he’s certainly capable of success without hurling one of the fastest heaters batters have ever seen.
“With any pitcher that gets older, making sure you’re able to play as long as long as you possibly can, [dialing it back] is certainly a conversation,” Hefner said. “I mean, he won a Cy Young when he was pitching 96 [mph] right? I think he’s aware of that. As long as he knows he has that in his back pocket, where he can pull out 100 [mph] in a big spot, and he pitches at 96, I’m certainly comfortable with that.
“Obviously competitive juices are going to start flowing, we’ll see where he’s at. But I think that’s a valid and reasonable conversation to have and a reasonable thought to have because he’s obviously a very valuable piece to us. So whatever we can do to keep him on the field, we’re going to try to do it.”
DeGrom on Tuesday said he was intentionally trying not to throw as hard as he could. As he looked at video of his outings in previous seasons, he noticed his velocity was lower when nobody was on base, and it was up a tick with a baserunner behind him. This year, deGrom said he will continue to observe the situations when he’s throwing his hardest.
Generally, deGrom indicated he has realized he can be effective even when his fastball is sitting 96-99 mph. Even though Mets fans may miss 103 mph flashing across the jumbotron, deGrom said he has enjoyed the results more when he dials it back at least a little bit.
“I’m sure there will be times when I throw as hard as I can,” deGrom said. “When I’m really in-sync and smooth, it feels like it’s coming out better than when I actually try to throw really hard.”
