{"id":272804,"date":"2021-06-12T09:04:46","date_gmt":"2021-06-12T06:04:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/mets-need-to-be-sure-jacob-degrom-is-ok\/"},"modified":"2021-06-12T09:04:46","modified_gmt":"2021-06-12T06:04:46","slug":"mets-need-to-be-sure-jacob-degrom-is-ok","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/mets-need-to-be-sure-jacob-degrom-is-ok\/","title":{"rendered":"#Mets need to be sure Jacob deGrom is OK"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Mets need to be sure Jacob deGrom is OK<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

\n

There are the reindeer game<\/a>s of trying to determine whether a pitcher is crossing the sticky-stuff line, and then there\u2019s the serious business of Major League Baseball keeping its biggest stars on the field. Unfortunately for the Mets, their biggest star, Jacob deGrom, quickly jumped levels Friday night at Citi Field.<\/p>\n

The biggest crowd here since 2019 rocked along with the industry\u2019s best pitcher for six dominant innings against the excellent Padres while the geeks in the press box (including me) checked whether deGrom\u2019s spin rates were in line with his season averages (they were). Then, deGrom departed after only six innings and 80 pitches, and by the time Edwin Diaz had closed out the Mets\u2019 3-2 victory over the impressive Padres, team officials had announced that deGrom left because of right flexor tendinitis.<\/p>\n

In a Mets-ian twist, deGrom declared after the game that he was \u201cnot too concerned about it\u201d and planned to make his next start, and his manager Luis Rojas backed him, saying, \u201cI\u2019m trusting my pitcher\u201d and added, \u201cThe expectation is he\u2019ll make his next start.\u201d The skipper wouldn\u2019t even commit to subjecting deGrom\u2019s pitching elbow to an MRI exam.<\/p>\n

OK. If I were a Mets fan \u2014 or a Mets executive, more to the point \u2014 I wouldn\u2019t put my feet up and set the panic meter at DEFCON 5 (that\u2019s the least panic, if you haven\u2019t seen \u201cWarGames\u201d) quite yet. As dominant as deGrom app<\/a>eared Friday, facing the minimum 18 batters as he allowed only a shift-beating, fifth-inning single by Wil Myers (who then got caught stealing), walking none and striking out 10, we\u2019re talking about a guy who has required breaks of 10 days (between April 28 and May 9) and then 15 days (between May 9 and May 24) due to \u201cright side tightness.\u201d In his four starts since his return from the injured list, he hasn\u2019t thrown more than 85 pitches, which he tossed in his June 5 victory over the Padres as he clocked seven shutout innings.<\/p>\n

\"Jacob
Jacob deGrom<\/figcaption>
Corey Sipkin<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Mets can accept that relatively low output per work shift as long as deGrom doesn\u2019t further imperil himself with each outing. And look, we\u2019re in some uncharted territory here. I sure as heck can\u2019t recall a club announcing that a pitcher has flexor tendinitis and following that up immedia<\/a>tely with \u201cI\u2019m not concerned,\u201d as Rojas did.<\/p>\n

No matter how deGrom\u2019s arm woes play out, the night served as a sobering reminder of what really mattered for the industry\u2019s well-being. Sticky-stuff disputes represent intramural battles between pitchers and hitters and bring a cloak-and-dagger vibe to the festivities. It was fun to speculate how the Yankees\u2019 Gerrit Cole would respond to Josh Donaldson\u2019s public musing about his spin rate dropping, and Cole staring down Donaldson after a strikeout Wednesday night made for great theater. In the coming weeks, as Major League Baseball intensifies its scrutiny of these miscreants, we must remind ourselves this is entertainment, nothing more. Go ahead and discipline those breaking the rules. Just do it with a smirk.<\/p>\n

The game truly suffers, though, when the great ones can\u2019t post. And deGrom, his ERA now an insane 0.56 \u2014 exactly half of the legendary 1.12 posted by the legendary Bob Gibson in The Year of the Pitcher 1968 \u2014 must post not only to give these Mets their best chance at greatness, but also to enhance interest from all corners.<\/p>\n

The Citi Field crowd of 26,637 had a blast, regaling deGrom with \u201cMVP\u201d chants after each of his two strikeouts of Padres superstar Fernando Tatis Jr., roaring when Mets Arbitrage All-Star Billy McKinney drove home Kevin Pillar for the game\u2019s first run with a fifth-inning double, then getting even louder when deGrom singled home a pair of runs. For those of us who sat in empty ballparks last year, those regales and roars are just what the doctor ordered.<\/p>\n