An Ace Worth Watching, Win or (Too Often) Lose

And even after Wednesday’s relative decline in production, deGrom’s earned run average is an N.L.-leading 0.51 and his career E.R.A. is 2.55, better than Tom Seaver’s Mets record of 2.57 for pitchers with at least 1,000 innings pitched.

And Wednesday’s nine strikeouts has deGrom tied with Nolan Ryan for the most by a pitcher in the first five appearances of a season — Ryan also had 59 over five starts at the outset of the 1978 season.

DeGrom’s starts have long attracted attention, but this year they have been elevated to appointment viewing, just as it was when Tom Seaver, Dwight Gooden, Pedro Martinez and even Matt Harvey pitched at home. The stands were often full and the buzz palpable when those aces were in their primes.

This year, seating capacity is limited at Citi Field because of the coronavirus pandemic, but the roughly 8,000 fans permitted thus far have proven capable of making a fuss when deGrom is at his peak, the way he was against Washington. On Wednesday, they sensed he was not at that same level, especially when he required 10 pitches to put away Nick Pivetta, the opposing starting pitcher, who fouled off six straight pitches before striking out in the third.

That is not supposed to happen against deGrom. Nor do teams hit three hard doubles off him when he is throwing his best stuff. But he has allowed only two earned runs all year, and lost both of those games, prompting more questions about the lack of run support from the sputtering Mets batters.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/29/sports/baseball/jacob-degrom-mets.html