Jacob deGrom

New York Mets: Bullpen Struggles, Red Sox Hold Off Mets in 6-5 Loss

by
New York Mets, Jacob deGrom

It is a rare sight when a Jacob deGrom start is not the topic of conversation after the game. Seth Lugo and Justin Wilson‘s rare struggles following him accounted for four Red Sox runs. The New York Mets also had no outs with the bases loaded in the ninth but could not come back in the 6-5 loss.

The usually reliable Lugo replaced deGrom after six innings and allowed a game-tying home run to Christian Vazquez. It was just the beginning of Vazquez terror on the Mets bullpen. In the eighth inning, he extended the Red Sox lead to three with a two-run double against Wilson.

The eighth inning showed the fatigue on Wilson, who made his fourth appearance in six games. He consistently missed up with his fastball and gave up three of everything: walks, hits, and runs. Two of the hits Wilson allowed, fell into the cheap category. Wilson’s control is what got him into trouble and made the cheap hits hurt.

The Mets attempted a comeback, down two in the ninth by loading the bases with no one out against Red Sox closer Brandon Workman. A J.D. Davis infield single got the Mets their only run. It was sandwiched between a Michael Conforto and Yoenis Cespedes strikeout, which led to a Robinson Cano soft liner to end the game. The Davis single came on a ball smothered by third baseman Rafael Devers which prevented the ball from heading to left field, allowing the tying run to score.

The Mets offense collected 15 hits on the night, but the Mets were 3-for-14 with RISP and left 11 runners on base. Pete Alonso led the way with four hits, all singles, and a hit by pitch. Cespedes and Brandon Nimmo also homered.

The Mets prized prospect, Andres Gimenez, made his first start at shortstop and excelled going 2-for-3 with a triple. He still looked like a new player at the big leagues after being picked off after his first hit. Once the Red Sox realized he could hit their fastball, they gave him a steady diet of curveballs in his final at-bat.

deGrom Doing His Job

Jacob deGrom was throwing bullets out of the gate, including a 101.1 mph fastball, the fastest of his career. He still did not have his best stuff throughout and only punched out four Red Sox. Despite that, he gave the Mets six strong innings, only allowing two runs on three hits. Out of caution, Rojas removed him after 88 pitches, but expect him to reach 100 in his next start.

The Mets send Steven Matz to the mound against Martin Perez in hopes of taking three out of four from the Red Sox. The first pitch is at 7:07 p.m. ET.

New York Mets: The Home Series Preview Against the Boston Red Sox

by
New York Mets, Jacob deGrom

The New York Mets got themselves back on track in Fenway Park with back to back victories to open up their four-game, home and home series with the Boston Red Sox. They revived their offense and received two good starting pitching outings from the back of their rotation. The Mets try to take the series as it shifts back to Citi Field.

Probable Pitching Matchups

Wednesday, July 29 @ 7:10 p.m. ET: Nathan Eovaldi (1-0, 1.50 ERA) vs. Jacob deGrom (0-0, 0.00 ERA)

Thursday, July 30 @ 7:07 p.m. ET: Martin Perez (0-1, 7.20 ERA) vs. Steven Matz (0-0, 1.50 ERA)

The Mets are 3-2 thanks to two solid starts from Michael Wacha and David Peterson. After Rick Porcello struggled against the Atlanta Braves, significant questions were surrounding the starting rotation. Though those questions still linger, they have quieted thanks to Wacha and Peterson combining to allow three runs over 10.2 innings pitched.

Take the Sweep

The Mets have an excellent opportunity to sweep a struggling Red Sox team, who has lost four straight. The best two starters in the Mets staff will throw the final two games and were both impressive in their two starts against the Braves. deGrom has a career 3.46 ERA against the Red Sox, his highest against any American League team (min. 10 IP). Matz is making his first career start against the Sox.

The Mets are changing their lineup around for game one of the series as Andres Gimenez makes his first start at shortstop, and Rene Rivera does the catching for deGrom. Dominic Smith also makes his first start of the season in left field as manager Luis Rojas opts for offense over defense in the outfield.

Also, keep a lookout for the defense of Jeff McNeil at third base. He already has three errors through five games, the most he has made at any position in his career. Throwing has been the issue for McNeil, and despite Pete Alonso messing up a couple of scoops, his errors come when he does not put enough on his throws.

Matchups to Lookout For

Nathan Eovaldi vs. Yoenis Cespedes: 4-for-12 (.333), Double, 2 RBIs

Martin Perez vs. Yoenis Cespedes: 5-for-15 (.333), Double, Triple, RBI, 2 Walks,

Dellin Betances vs. Xander Bogaerts: 3-for-21 (.143), Double, 2 RBI, 8 Strikeouts

New York Mets: Cespedes Powers the Mets to a 1-0 Victory

by
New York Mets, Yeonis Cespedes

The New York Mets’ first win of the season could not have been written better and was a day for a couple of crucial Mets to get chips off their shoulders. Yoenis Cespedes returns to the lineup in fashion as his majestic solo home run was all the Mets needed to defeat the Atlanta Braves. Also, Jacob deGrom and the bullpen combined on a shutout of the defending NL East champions.

Cespedes looked rusty at the plate during his first two at-bats. His pop up and a groundball to third base barely reached the infield dirt. It was the first time for Cespedes to test his legs, but he ran at 80 percent as advised by the Mets medical staff. During Cespedes’s third at-bat, he took a belt-high fastball and deposited deep into the empty left-field stands. He did not have to worry about his legs during his light jog around the bases.

Pitching Dominance

deGrom shut down any question on the effect of his back injury and long layoff. He only allowed two baserunners and struck out eight on only 74 pitches. deGrom consistently threw 99-100 mph with his fastball and has thrown 28 straight scoreless innings.

Seth Lugo and Justin Wilson worked through trouble to keep the Braves scoreless and get the game to Edwin Diaz in the ninth. Of course, watching Diaz is going to frighten Mets fans, but he also calms down fans for now. He worked around a walk and struck out two to get his first save of the 2020 season.

Diaz looked electric with his fastball in the high 90s, a slider that looked like it did during his time in Seattle, and he even threw a changeup as well. Diaz struck out Matt Adams on a perfect slider to end the game, which was a huge confidence boost. He struggled mightily with his signature pitch last season, but those struggles seem no more.

Mike Soroka also pitched great for the Braves. He went six innings and allowed four hits without walking a batter. Mets pitching held the Braves to three hits and struck them out 15 times, which handed Soroka a no-decision.

The top of the Mets order, Brandon Nimmo and Jeff McNeil provided three of the six Mets hits. McNeil easily could have added two more if it was not for the Braves defense.

The Mets and Braves play game two of the season at 4:10 p.m. on Saturday. A couple of lefties tow the rubber as Steven Matz gets the start against the 17-game winner, Max Fried.

Atlanta Braves vs. New York Mets Series Preview

by
New York Mets, Jacob deGrom

Almost four months late, we finally have Opening Day and our first series preview of the year. The New York Mets welcome in the defending NL East champion Atlanta Braves. Both teams start the series shorthanded but important games will finally begin the 60-game sprint of a season.

Pitching Matchups:

Friday, 7/24, 4:10 p.m.: Mike Soroka vs. Jacob deGrom

Saturday, 7/25, 4:10 p.m.: Max Fried vs. Steven Matz

Sunday, 7/26, 7:08 p.m.: Sean Newcomb vs. Rick Porcello

The biggest question the Mets fans had about their lineup was Robinson Cano‘s place in the batting order. Not quite the offensive force he once was, Cano is in the six spot for Opening Day. The lineup looks extremely deep with Wilson Ramos, who hit over .300 w/RISP batting eighth in the order.

The Mets are 38-20 on Opening Day, and deGrom dominates day game with a 1.78 ERA. It at least puts the Mets in an excellent position to take the first game against a team they struggled against in 2019. They were 8-11 against the Braves, and taking the final three games of the season saved the record from plummeting even more.

Shorthanded Squads

The Mets had to flip around their rotation when they learned Marcus Stroman would not pitch the second game of the season. His calf injury is not a huge setback for Stroman but Matz and Porcello as pitching earlier than expected to start the season.

The Braves are extremely shorthanded in the catching department. Tyler Flowers and Travis d’Arnaud are on the IL due to COVID-19 symptoms. While both tested negative, neither traveled to New York with the Braves. Alex Jackson and William Contreras will take their place during the series. They also placed Cole Hamels on the 45-day IL to open up roster spots.

The Braves will also start Austin Riley at third over the injured Johan Camargo. Though both teams are not at full strength, it is finally time for America’s Pastime to return even if it includes empty stadiums.

Mets news: DeGrom throws and is on track for Opening Day; Marisnick to play today; Cespedes to DH on Friday; Ramos shows up

by

The New York Mets released details about some of their players’ injuries on Tuesday through manager Luis Rojas. On Monday, it was announced that infielder Jed Lowrie was placed on the injured list with a left knee issue that prevented him from fielding and running smoothly.

Tuesday was a much brighter day, at least when it comes to injuries. Mets’ ace and two-time Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom threw a side session with no incident at Citi Field. The right-hander, you may recall, had a slight scare with his back early last week.

Thankfully for the Mets, he has felt a lot better since then and has reported no further issues that may complicate his availability for Opening Day, a game for which he is still lined up for (Friday against the Atlanta Braves.)

Rojas reported on Monday that center fielder Jake Marisnick was battling “a little bit of left hamstring tightness,” but he is expected to play in today’s intrasquad action at Citi Field and will take at least a couple of at-bats.

Marisnick, Cespedes and Ramos all should be available for the Mets on Friday

So far, just like deGrom, Marisnick’s availability for Friday hasn’t been compromised. He is slated to share center field duties with Brandon Nimmo.

Meanwhile, Mets’ slugger Yoenis Cespedes, who played in two exhibition games against the Yankees on the weekend, said today that he expects to be the team’s designated hitter on Friday against the Braves.

The Cuban star said that he feels good in left field following multiple ankle and heel surgeries in the last two years, but he wasn’t really tested in the weekend, and the only ball batted his way was a home run.

The universal designated hitter rule will allow the Mets to put Cespedes in that spot most nights, provided he can still produce with the bat.

After not reporting to camp since last Friday, catcher Wilson Ramos showed up on Tuesday at Citi Field.

New York Mets: deGrom threw a bullpen session on Friday and will make 50-60 pitches on Sunday

by
New York Mets, Jacob deGrom

Earlier this week, the New York Mets fired the alarms when their best pitcher, Jacob deGrom, reported some back tightness and had to leave an intrasquad game. After all, the team has already lost Noah Syndergaard for the season with Tommy John surgery and, in a shortened calendar, any trip to the injured list could take a sizable portion of the season for a player.

Fortunately, ever since he had to leave the Mets’ intrasquad action, the two-time Cy Young Award winner has progressed nicely and his condition has been improving, slowly but surely. Today, the hurler threw a successful bullpen session, which is another signal that he is advancing towards playing very soon.

Now, the New York Mets expect their ace to be ready for Opening Day, which is a week from now, if he continues to show improvement.

The Mets will have him pitch in a controlled environment

Rather than appearing in an exhibition game against the New York Yankees, which was the original plan, the Mets have decided to have deGrom throw a 50-60 pitch simulated game on Sunday, per Rotoworld.

They club seems to think that a controlled environment will be beneficial for his recovery, instead of throwing him right into the fire the same week he sustained the mild injury.

With the expectation that the Mets’ ace is going to be ready for Opening Day, his objective of winning a third straight Cy Young Award is still intact. A trip to the IL would virtually but those dreams to rest, as there is too much competition and too little time.

The talented righty will carry the New York Mets’ rotation in his shoulders, as the team tries to make a successful run to the postseason and beyond, something that couldn’t be possible last season despite a second-half push.

New York Mets Analysis: Should the Mets be concerned with deGrom’s recurring back problems?

by
New York Mets, Jacob deGrom

For the New York Mets, it happened again Tuesday night; ace Jacob deGrom left a game with back tightness. The Cy Young Award winner has had recurring problems with back tightness going back to 2016. Tuesday night, it took only one inning for his back to go out of wack in one of the Met’s last intrasquad games.

In 2016, deGrom did exit his first start of the season early because of more tightness. In 2018, he had starts altered or pushed back because of recurring back problems.  In neither case did it cause him to miss his first start of the season.  In a 162 game season, missing a start of two might not be significant for the team.  But missing one or two starts in a short season when he will have only eleven starts could be problematic to the season’s outcome.

Should the New York Mets be concerned, should they go cautiously with him going into the season, possibly limited his innings at the start? This is a question and one that will have to be answered quickly.  The New York Mets will have two exhibition games with the New York Yankees, on July 18 at Citi Field and one at Yankee Stadium on Sunday.  Their opening day will be next Friday the 24th against the Atlanta Braves in the Queens.

The fine line between the proper amount of caution and an overabundance of it is difficult to discern in any season; it’s even harder to figure out when the math is so different this year. And it just so happens that the Mets’ first test comes with their best player deGrom, the one they have signed long-term to a nine-figure contract. deGrom makes $25 million a year with the Mets. (increasing to $35MM next year).

“It’s a short season, it affects more — the percentage of games missed,” manager Luis Rojas said. “Injuries are going to play a big part in a short season like this.”

deGrom back issues are not the only problem the Mets have with high paid players.  Their second-highest-paid player is ex-Yankee Robinson Cano. He, in 2018 played in only 80 games due to injuries, and in 2019 he played in just a few more games, but with a concerningly low batting average of just .256 for their star player.

deGrom’s back issues have caused a problem for the New York Mets, he hasn’t been able to build up his arm.  In Tuesday’s game, they had hoped that he build up to 60 pitches.  Being taken out after only one inning didn’t allow that to happen, and now he is behind in his progress.  deGrom is scheduled to take the mound at Yankee Stadium on Sunday. How far he goes in the game will have to be determined.  If he is ready to go on opening day next Friday, he surely won’t be able to go deep into the game against the Braves.

New York Mets: deGrom Deals With Back Issues, Cano Finally Shows

by
New York Mets, Jacob deGrom

The New York Mets had quite a few headlines from Tuesday. Jacob deGrom left his start with a back issue after one inning and it overshadowed the return of Robinson Cano to summer camp after an eight-day absence.

The first nightmare of summer camp occurred when deGrom surprisingly left the game early. His performance did not indicate any issues, but a grimace for deGrom as he walked off the mound showed something was wrong. It was his second to last start before Opening Day, but the injury changes things around.

All the Mets released a confirmation on deGrom’s injury. He also dealt with similar issues during 2018 Spring Training, but it did not keep him from being ready for Opening Day. Judging from deGrom’s ability to finish the inning, his early exit seemed like a precaution to keep their back-to-back Cy Young winner from causing more damage to his back.

Cano Back in Flushing

While the reasons for Robinson Cano’s absence from summer camp is still a mystery, he returned to camp on Tuesday. Since the Mets’ organizational policy is to keep quiet on player’s absences, the only place to get an answer is from Cano himself. Cano did not speak to the media on his first day back.

Cano’s starting lineup status is still in question for the beginning of the season. Manager Luis Rojas said it all depends on how he progresses in the next week but looks to be in great shape. With an aging veteran like Cano, they know how to get themselves in-game shape better than anyone else. He had a slow start in 2019 and hopes to erase that from Mets fans memories.

Cano’s appearance at camp leaves Brad Brach and Jared Hughes as the final two players who need to report to camp. Rojas had no answer on when to expect them to join the team. Both do not carry the weight of Edwin Diaz or Seth Lugo in the Mets bullpen but are both good enough pitchers where their absence will hurt the team. Their absence opens up opportunities for Drew Smith and Paul Sewald to make the roster.

New York Mets: Jacob deGrom still dreams of third consecutive Cy Young

by
New York Mets, Jacob deGrom

Despite the weird circumstances surrounding the 2020 MLB season, New York Mets ace Jacob deGrom is still dreaming about winning his third Cy Young award in a row. He will only 60 games to make the strongest impression, as opposed to the usual 162 that the calendar offers year in, year out.

In the history of the game, only 11 hurlers went on to win consecutive Cy Young awards, and two of them, Hall of Famers Greg Maddux and Randy Johnson, did it three times in a row. In fact, they both won four straight.

“I don’t think it would feel the same,” deGrom said to MLB.com, “but it’s definitely still a goal.” The objective is a little trickier than usual: earned run average, or ERA, may get pretty messed up with a rough outing, so the Mets’ ace needs to avoid those in order to have a chance. He has been brilliant for 10-12 starts in a row in the past, so if anybody has a chance to win the hardware at the end of the season, it’s him.

The Mets ace will have competition

However, since it is easier, in theory, to be dominant for two months than for six, it would mean that a deeper pool of players would make a run at the award that the New York Mets’ fans want deGrom to win so much.

DeGrom had, for example, three consecutive losses in April 2019, which would have complicated his chances of winning in a short season.

“Hopefully, I got those two or three bad starts out in the bullpen sessions at home,” deGrom said. “Hopefully, [I’ll] get off to a good start and keep it rolling and eliminate the bad ones.”

The Mets’ best homegrown starter in years, deGrom threw to his father regularly at home in DeLand, Florida, to stay sharp with the 2020 season in mind. He also incorporated bullpen sessions here and there, throwing to catcher Patrick Mazeika at Stetson University.

He reported to Mets camp in great shape, and plans to be stretched out to 85 pitches in a week’s time.

New York Mets: Bobby Bonilla Isn’t The Only One Getting Paid Today

by

For the New York Mets and their fans, the dreaded Bobby Bonilla day has arrived. Just like every July 1 until 2035, Bonilla receives his $1,193,248.20 in deferred money. What most fans do not realize is that Bonilla is not the only one receiving deferred money.

Every team in baseball has at least one deferred contract they regret. Unfortunately for the Mets, Bonilla won the grand prize for his lack of production and length of his deferred payments. In 1999, he batted just .160 in 60 games and was a huge distraction which caused the Mets to part ways with him after one season. Bonilla was no longer an issue for the Mets on the field but his journey to becoming a burden on the Mets payroll was just starting.

Other Mets With Deferred Money

Bret Saberhagen has received $250K every year since 2004 and the payments do not end until 2028. The Mets got one All-Star appearance and a 3.16 ERA over the three and a half years the control specialist spend in Queens. The Mets ended up trading Saberhagen to the Colorado Rockies for scraps.

Jeurys Familia deferred $1 million for the 2020 and 2021 seasons. He will receive his money in two separate dates during 2022. Hopefully, the Mets can squeeze out production from Familia before his contract runs out.

Jacob deGrom deferred $52.5 million when he signed his contract extension. Thankfully, the Mets have already received two Cy Young season from him and expect another by the time he is done. deGrom will receive his money from 2035 to 2039. Barring injuries, this one works out well for the Mets.

David Wright has an interesting breakdown. He will receive $6 million with 2.5 percent interest compounded monthly from July 1, 2021, to July 1, 2023. At the end of 2023, Wright receives full interest. Unfortunately, Wright’s body gave up on him which forced him to retire earlier than he should have.

These payments are laced throughout baseball and some work out better than others. What makes Bonilla’s the worst one is how poorly he played, how long his payments are for and the fact the contract should not have been offered to him in the first place.