PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. _ Sunday could be loosely described as a special occasion for Jacob deGrom, with his one inning in an exhibition against an Astros B lineup representing the soft opening of his Cy Young defense. But if you want the true origin of his 2019 preparation, you have to go back to shortly after his historic 2018 ended.
In October, a couple of weeks after he walked off the Citi Field mound to a standing ovation in his last start and a couple of weeks before he was named the NL Cy Young Award winner, deGrom started playing catch with his father/offseason throwing partner, Tony.
DeGrom wrestled with the decision to begin throwing so early after an eventful season and a career-high 217 innings, the second year in a row he reached the 200-inning threshold. Ultimately, a desire to follow the same timeline he did the offseason prior _ which paid off in the form of a 1.70 ERA _ won out.
