Jacob deGrom was the man during the batting practice on Wednesday, because Jacob deGrom is always the man. When the sun began to fall and shadows began to seep through the grass of Citi’s field, deGrom fell short, his former college position, preparing for any line impulse. .
From the railing of the Mets, it was difficult to deviate from the eyes of the aces, latent since July 7th. Frankly, it was good to see him again on a ball field after the doctors let him do what a SNY camera caught him do a couple of hours earlier: play catch on the field of play, maybe the first step to start a match in mid-September.
DeGrom finished on the left field during BP before crossing the center and then to the right. Finally, he climbed over the low wall at the corner of the right field and went down a tunnel, presumably to prevent reporters from gathering near the excavation. As much as journalists depended on access to athletes to provide information to fans, it was hard to blame deGrom for receiving a pre-game pass for three reasons:
- It’s a shame to actually participate in a press conference on a development as simple as playing catch.
- It would be even more embarrassing if deGrom continued to play and suffered another setback to end his season.
- It’s not his responsibility to answer questions about a team collapse that had nothing to do with him (even though it had everything to do with him).
On July 7, after deGrom threw seven ball innings four times, two runs and 10 attacks in Milwaukee, the Mets marched off that victory with a 45-37 record and a four-game lead in the Milwaukee East National League. Since then, the Mets have gone from 16 to 27 as they sink into third place, 6 ₂ / ₂ from the last Atlanta division leader, who was entering Wednesday night’s game against the Giants.
Yes, it can be argued that as a starting pitcher, even as a first generation pitcher, deGrom can’t have such a big, dramatic impact on his team because he doesn’t compete in four out of five games.
This is a silly argument.
It doesn’t matter that deGrom even owns the best batting average (.364) for any Met with at least 30 plate appearances this year (of course it does). When he is on the mound and at the top of his job, deGrom has a significant emotional impact on his team. When you’re healthy and on the bench, that impact doesn’t completely fade and you don’t need to be a Harvard-trained psychologist to figure out why.
The Mets have been a Charlie Brown franchise for a long time, and the mere presence of deGrom reduces that grain of loserville. The day the Mets drafted deGrom in the ninth round of the 2010 draft, Lucy finally kept the ball to them. During the first half of this season, the Mets could be on top of baseball mountain, above the Yankees and everyone else, and shout that they had something no one else had: the best pitcher on the planet.
Do you think this didn’t positively affect the Mets in those days he didn’t pitch?
After manager Luis Rojas announced what he called “great news for us,” an MRI test that showed enough improvement in deGrom’s elbow inflammation to allow him to throw a baseball. ask about the damage the absence of his ace caused to his team not only in a physical but also a psychological context.
“We’ve faced a lot of things this season and the guys have taken it in the best way,” Rojas said. “They show up to play every day with the same behavior. I don’t think there’s any mentality, or just going negatively towards a game because we thought this might have been Jake’s day. … Since we’ve been through a tough stretch, I don’t think the guys will say, “Okay, Jake isn’t here.”
“It’s always good when he’s active and he throws every five days, though [when] it hasn’t been, I don’t think the boys felt sorry. … I don’t think from a mental standpoint [deGrom’s absence] hurt the boys. They showed up to play the same way every day. ”
It’s not even half as effective.
Rojas has to protect his players, and he can’t give them any reason to fail in a press conference response. Later, at the end of BP, when I spoke to Rojas on the pitch, he said he was doing everything in his power to erase future media and fan references to a Same Old Mets mentality. Rojas is only 39 years old and has the potential to be a very good long-term manager.
But entering the game on Wednesday night, with a potential return of Grom on the horizon, the Mets were still a team in free fall. And, in every sense, his unraveling has been another testament to the greatness of Grom.
Not that you need it.