Adam Rubin of ESPN New York writes that pitching prospect Jacob deGrom hopes his fast rise from St. Lucie to Las Vegas in the 2013 season, continues in 2014.

When the Mets added degrom to the 40-man roster after the 2013 season, it meant an automatic invite to the 2014 big league camp. Rubin shares that while the odds are that Daisuke Matsuzaka, John Lannan or Jenrry Mejia will claim the fifth-starter role in the Mets rotation, deGrom cannot be counted out entirely, given his sudden rise in such a short span of time.

The Mets signed deGrom in the 9th round of the 2010 June Amateur draft out of Stetson University. That October he had Tommy John surgery which caused him to miss all of the 2011 season. “Just coming back from Tommy John, that was a successful 2012,” deGrom tells Rubin. “And then when I started in St. Lucie, I thought I’d probably end up in Binghamton to end the year. And then I got the chance to pitch in Vegas and pitched pretty well in the beginning. That helped me stay. And I was thankful for that opportunity.”

The right hander has pitched in 51 minor league games, while posting a 17-11 record, with a 3.76 ERA with 238 strike outs in 285 innings.

DeGrom comes into camp after he was found to have cartilage buildup behind the knee cap, and after some anti-inflammatory shots this offseason and with rehab, he looks to continue on the same trend of rising quickly to the top.  He is only one level away from making his major league debut, and who knows, he may surprise some people in camp and make the decision of choosing a fifth starter, that much harder.

(Photo Credit: Mike Janes/Four Seam Images via AP Images)