Jacob DeGrom Shines, Mets' Bullpen Falters in Opening Night Loss
Horror flick, right? Yeah, we've seen this one before..
Jacob deGrom’s first pitch of his 2021 season was a 99.5 MPH called strike to Andrew McCutchen, who struck out swinging on another 99.5 MPH, 2-2 outside-sliver four-seamer later in the at-bat.
Your boy hasn’t lost a step. Even after a week-long layoff.
Things began with a bang, as Rhys Hoskins crushed a deGrom offering off the top of the wall in right-center in the next at-bat, but Jeff McNeil’s perfect relay throw gunned him down trying to advance to third base. McNeil’s got a hose. We know this.
Phillies left-hander Matt Moore — fresh off a 2020 stint in Japan (2.65 ERA over 15 appearances; 98 strikeouts in 85 innings) — was sharp early, striking out Francisco Lindor, Michael Conforto, Pete Alonso, and J.D. Davis consecutively over the first two frames on a steady diet of low-90s fastballs and low-speed knuckle-curves.
New York began to wear away at Moore, but it took a bit for the Mets to time the veteran lefty *just right*. While the velocity might not be there for Moore, his command was nearly pinpoint accurate. For a while, at least.
This lineup is simply too talented to keep down. And if you make mistakes, they’re gonna clean up on those missteps.
Nimmo — hitting eighth on Opening Day, because, you know, why not — was the Mets’ first baserunner with his one-out walk in the third.
DeGrom nicked an infield single off Moore’s glove in his first plate appearance of the year (#PitchersWhoRake), and Lindor walked to load the bases for Conforto, whose groundout ended the rally.
Alonso and Davis both drew bases-on-balls to start the fourth, and the Mets capitalized. Following a well-struck sacrifice fly from Jeff McNeil to advance Alonso, James McCann drove in his first run in blue and orange with a single into left, giving the Mets a 1-0 lead.
Adam Haseley misplayed a shallow pop-up off Nimmo’s bat to load the bases for deGrom, who helped his own cause with a run-scoring bloop single into shallow left, putting New York ahead 2-0 and ending Moore’s night after 74 pitches.
Right-hander Brandon Kintzler entered with the bases jammed and got Kevin Pillar — occupying center field and the leadoff spot, leaving Dominic Smith on the bench in the season opener — to roll into a 6-4-3, inning-ending double play, limiting what could have been a landslide frame for the Mets.
Smith’s numbers versus left-handers since 2019 (.291/.380/.512) equate kindly to those of Pillar’s over that span (.298/.332/.538), but one would assume the starting lineup would get the nod on Opening Day. Alas. Onward…
Jake continued emanating excellence, breezing unscathed through the sixth and mixing in his slider a bit more liberally than he’d done the first time through the order.
At 77 pitches through six scoreless — touching 102 MPH, living at 100, sprinkling in his ungodly secondary stuff, and retiring nine Phillies batters in a row until that point — the best pitcher on the planet was merely telling the backstory behind that designation.
Miguel Castro took the hill for the seventh, ending deGrom’s initial outing of 2021 after six innings of no-run ball, striking out seven, walking two, and allowing three hits.
DeGrom threw 18 sliders, racking up six swings-and-misses and two called strikes, and picked up 10 whiffs and 10 called strikes on 59 four-seamers. According to Statcast, deGrom didn’t throw a single changeup during his outing.
Castro worked around a one-out Alec Bohm infield hit, benefitting from a terrific diving stop at first base via Alonso who stepped on the bag to end the inning unassisted later in the frame.
The 26-year-old eclipsed 100 MPH on four of his seven sinkers in the seventh (99 MPH on the other three) and his changeup and slider came in at 93 MPH and 86 MPH, respectively. An alluring weapon, Castro.
And this is where things go downhill.
Right-hander Trevor May ran into trouble in the eighth, welcoming left-hander Aaron Loup into a one-out, bases-loaded jam. Spoiler: it didn't go well.
Notably, McCutchen’s incredible plate discipline and bat control while drawing a one-out walk (three fouls with two strikes) versus May kicked the door wide open for Philadelphia to find their way back into this game. Heck of a ballplayer…
Loup hit Bryce Harper with a pitch to plate Philadelphia’s first run and J.T. Realmuto squirted a base hit through the left side to knot the game at two, erasing deGrom’s name off the decision ledger for the, oh, I don’t know, 200th time in his career?
With the bases still loaded, Bohm grounded out to third and Luis Guillorme, in for defense, threw wide home, evading his backstop and allowing two runs to cross, putting the Phillies ahead, 4-2, and a sacrifice fly from Gregorius put the Phils up 5-2.
We know this team, though. There’s no giving up without a fight.
Pillar and Lindor singled with two outs in the ninth against Phillies’ fireballing right-hander Jose Alvarado, and Conforto smoked his second hit of the game in front of Harper, cutting the Mets’ deficit to 5-3 and bringing Alonso to the plate, who drilled the first pitch he saw to the warning track in right, ending the game.
Oof.
Marcus Stroman takes the hill for the Metsies on Tuesday at 7:05 PM EST in Philadelphia. The game will be televised on SNY and broadcast on WCBS 880 AM.
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Best way to improve the bullpen is to let the starters go more than 6 innings. Second mistake was taking Castro out. Why take out an effective pitcher? Why? Because he doesn’t pitch the 8th inning. Ridiculous