It appears as though New York Mets ace Jacob deGrom has eliminated any sort of injury concerns despite his first start since May 9 ending after just five innings and 63 pitches — a much-needed bit of good news for the organization when it comes to the injury front.
After dealing with a lingering side issue, deGrom struck out nine in five innings while allowing just a single run — becoming the first pitcher in franchise history with seven consecutive starts to begin a season in which he allowed one earned run or fewer.
“Everything felt good, my body felt good, so I am looking forward to hopefully running out there every five days for the rest of the year,” deGrom said.
While manager Luis Rojas said on Monday that deGrom would not have a pitch count or a certain number of up-downs upon his return, it was revealed afterward that the magic number was 75 pitches.
“Fourteen days, not pitching in a major-league game, there’s definitely a little bit more adrenaline,” deGrom said. “So we tried to come up with a good plan, and we thought like that felt like that was the right way to do it.”
During that lay-off, deGrom honed in on his mechanics — which were an original indicator that something was amiss earlier this month.
“I work on my delivery a lot, and where I was aggravated was not being able to fix it mid-game in the previous ones,” deGrom said. “It mainly comes from where I start. My leg lift and level shoulders, going to the plate.”
It certainly appeared as though there were no issues upon his return, which is just what the Mets need at this point. Currently, deGrom’s rotation mates in Taijuan Walker, Carlos Carrasco, and Noah Syndergaard are on the injured list with Jordan Yamamoto joining them this week.
“I’m just glad he felt really good throughout and did what he usually does in a game,” manager Luis Rojas said. “He gets on base, runs the bases, and threw the ball the way he usually throws it, but he accomplished the goal.”
