Mike Vorkunov of The Star Ledger, spoke with Jacob deGrom‘s baseball college coach at Stetson University, Pete Dunn, on how he had a plan for deGrom to be the school’s starting shortstop and the team’s closer going into his junior year at the university.

With the Hatters pitchers struggling to win games and deGrom hardly a fixture on the mound, Dunn moved him from shortstop into the rotation for the duration of the year.

“We did take a hit defensively at shortstop but I think we more than made up for it in putting him on the mound,” Dunn tells Vorkunov by phone. 

The decision to convert deGrom into a pitcher by Dunn, made a huge significance in a career of a shortstop who was destined for greater things on the mound.

When that decision came to move him to the mound, Dunn tells the Star Ledger that he told deGrom it would serve him best for the short term and the future.

The short term prepared him to be a pitcher and the future is now and deGrom is taking full advantage of all of the skills that he learned along the way. 

The knowledge of coach Dunn is the key to what he saw in deGrom and how he prepared him for the many accomplishments to come. The future is now and deGrom is where he belongs.