Jacob deGrom made his second start on Wednesday for the New York Mets. It wasn’t as dazzling as his first, but he has shown that he can handle the pressures and the competition at the major league level. He was reaching the mid-90’s on his fastball again and did seem to have control of his other pitches. The Mets offense didn’t really hold up their end of the bargain by not giving him much run support, but they did make it close.
DeGrom set the Los Angeles Dodgers down in order in the first inning but would make his first “mistake” in the second. Leading off the second inning for the Dodgers was one of the hottest hitters in the National League, Adrian Gonzalez. With the count 1-2, Anthony Recker called for a pitch up in the zone and deGrom obliged as the pitch was heading directly to the mit. Unfortunately, Gonzalez was ready for it and inserted into the stands for the 1-0 Dodgers lead. When deGrom kept the ball low and in the zone has was a far better pitcher. Once the balled started to move a bit north on him things got a little dicey.
The home run really didn’t seem to get to deGrom as he was flying until the sixth inning. Back-to-back jacks by Yasiel Puig and Hanley Ramirez essentially ended his night, leaving the game trailing 3-0.
DeGrom’s final line on Wednesday: 6 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB (1 IBB), 4 K.
With the exception of the long balls hit by the Dodgers, deGrom’s numbers didn’t differ all that much from his first start against the New York Yankees. He lasted one inning more and didn’t strike out as many hitters, but if he can maintain some sort of consistency, he may never go back to the PCL.
Other notes of interest in the game were from deGrom’s Las Vegas teammates Eric Campbell and Wilmer Flores. Campbell hit a 2-run home run in the bottom of the sixth for the first of his career. Flores was seeing the ball well and went 3-for-4. It is unfortunate that the offense couldn’t bail out deGrom to give him his first win. He should still have plenty opportunities to get starts even when Gee comes back. deGrom’s next scheduled start is on Memorial Day against Ike Davis and the Pittsburgh Pirates.