Introduction: Jacob deGrom is the best pitcher in the game today and it is not even close. As of this writing, his ERA stands at 0.62 through 58 IP which is equivalent to nine starts, with a WHIP of 0.57, and 93 SO. He has only given up 4 runs in the aforementioned 58 innings and has driven in three runs himself. Personally, I have been wanting to write a post just about deGrom for a while so this post will be a fun one for me to write up!
Jacob deGrom features a 4-seam fastball, slider, changeup, and a curveball that he will rarely mix in. His fastball tops out at 102 MPH with his slider topping out at 94 MPH and his changeup in the lower 90's. Personally, I have never seen a slider thrown so hard with the level of control deGrom posses in all my years of watching baseball, it is so astonishing. deGrom ranks in the 99th percentile of almost every stat, including velocity, K rate, chase rate, and expected ERA, or xERA to name a few.
Debuting on the 15th of May in 2014 after being called up from then Triple-A Las Vegas with his long curly hair flapping in the wind, the Stetson product showed positive signs right away. deGrom's debut stat line against the Yankees looked like this: 7 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 6 SO, 2 BB. Any baseball fan who has seen deGrom pitch knows what is coming next.... he was credited with the loss. Over the course of deGrom's career, the poor man cannot seem to get his share of wins.
Being a deGrom fan myself, this frustrates me more than it probably does the man himself. When deGrom loses a game because of a Mets bullpen blowup, not getting enough run support, or Mets manager Luis Rojas simply pulling him because of a low pitch count I will get so frustrated and will question and think why he was pulled for the rest of that day knowing he could have gone longer into the game. I feel sorry for him because he literally goes out and mows down every lineup and hitter but the majority of the time he gets the loss. The whole topic of deGrom getting losses because of bullpen blowups, not enough offense, and bad managing decisions really bothers me because he should honestly win every game he pitches. Bottom line, I could go on about this topic for hours but I will save your time and go on to the next topic, his velocity.
deGrom's velocity is what draws me to him the most. His fastball averaged 93.9 MPH his rookie season at age 28 and ever since then it has gone up. To me, this is what makes deGrom so special, him being able to throw harder as he has gotten older. Now 32, his average fastball velocity is 98.7 MPH. As you would imagine this makes him even more unhittable and tougher to hit with him being able to incorporate his off-speed stuff as well. After watching deGrom pitch countless times, he likes to throw his slider after throwing a majority of fastballs, but this of course depends on the hitter, pitch sequencing, how the hitter fares against him, among other things. He will throw 10 fastballs in a row if he wants too. Personally, I have hardly ever seen him throw his curveball but maybe just a handful of times so he relies more on just three pitches which is pretty impressive. The only explanation I can think of that has led to an increase in his velocity is deGrom cutting his hair prior to the start of the 2018 season. I know the previous statement may sound funny, but it is true.
The career numbers of Jacob deGrom are rather impressive. Since 2018, the "deGrominator" has raked in two Cy Young Awards, both coming in 2018 and 2019, but I think he should have three (no offense to Trevor Bauer). deGrom's highest ERA in a season was 3.53 in 2017, but aside from the 2017 season, every other year his ERA has either been just above three (3.04 in 2016) or lower than three. No one can forget his memorable 2018 campaign where he went crazy on everybody. His ERA sat at a microscopic 1.70 by season's end with a WHIP of .912, a1.98 FIP, and an ERA+ of 218 with 269 SO. Currently, deGrom's career ERA is lower than Mets great Tom Seaver. The right arm of Jacob deGrom is so amazing!
Usually when one of my favorite pitchers other than deGrom takes the mound such as Max Scherzer I get rather nervous, but with deGrom it is different. deGrom is so consistent, I pretty much know he is going to do great every start. I have so much faith and confidence in him, I even took him 1st overall in one of my Fantasy Baseball drafts! I do not even freak out when he gets in a jam because I know he is going to get out of it, usually by throwing 100 MPH fastballs by hitters.
Final Thoughts: Currently through June 6th games deGrom is on a historic pace. I hope he can keep this historic stretch going and easily cruise to his third Cy Young Award in four seasons. If you have not seen deGrom pitch, I HIGHLY encourage anyone to watch Jacob deGrom highlights on Youtube or to tune in to one of his starts during the season, it is something else. Trying to describe someone's dominance such as deGrom's without people ever seeing him pitch before is a hard thing to do, so that is why I encourage to go watch for yourself. Needless to say I am pretty crazy over Jacob deGrom! He truly is the greatest pitcher I have ever seen in my life and I have a feeling that will not change for awhile.
See you at the Ballpark!!!
Adam
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