Jacob deGrom (Part Three) The 2021 & 2022 Seasons
14 Strike Out Game: On Saturday April 10th, deGrom matched his career high with another 14 strike outs. He allowed just one run over eight innings of work but took a loss, as the Mets were shut out by the Marlins Trevor Rogers (six innings) & Dylan Floro, Richard Bleier & Yimi Garcia.
Pitcher of the Month Award: deGrom ended the month of April with a league leading 0.51 ERA. He was 2-2 with 59 strike outs & two walks in 35 innings pitched. He won the April Pitcher of the Month Award.
Quotes- Jacob deGrom: "I want to be out there every fifth day. That helped make the decision easier because I didn't want it to result into turning into something more serious. Talking with trainers & Dr. Altchek this was the right call, because if you continue to go out there & that's aggravated & you do change your mechanics, then you could be looking at some serious time, not being able to repeat your delivery & being off".
After two weeks, he returned to the much-needed Mets rotation. The Mets were now clinging to a 1.5 games lead in first place.
On May 31st, deGrom took the hill in Arizona & went into the 5th inning with a no hitter. With one out Carson Kelly then singled centerfield ending the no hit bid. deGrom was masterful, as he pitched six innings of shutout ball, striking out eight while walking no one & giving up just two hits.
Hitting Star: In the 4th inning, Arizona chose to walk Mason Williams intentionally to load the bases & get to deGrom. But Jacob singled to right field, giving himself a 3-0 lead while driving in his third run of the year. Entering June, deGrom was batting .450, while opponents were hitting just .129 off him.
That night Pete Alonso returned after two weeks on the IL & drove in four runs, including a 442-foot mammoth HR. Trivia: deGrom's0.71 ERA was the lowest of any qualified starter since 1964, when the Phillies, Chris Short had a 0.64 ERA entering June.
At this point Jacob deGrom was being called the best pitcher in baseball by many sources.
50th Career Double Digit Strike Ot Game: On June 5th at Petco Park, deGrom continued his domination, stopping the first place Mets two game losing streak with a 4-0 win, to keep them 3.5 games in front.
deGrom struck out eleven Padres, marking the 50th time in his career he had struck out ten or more batters in a game. It was the fourth time he reached double digits in K's that season.
Overall, in seven innings, he allowed no runs on three hits, one walk & the 11 Ks. deGrom lowered his ERA to an MLB best 0.62, which was now the lowest ERA for a starter through nine starts since ERA became a stat in 1912.
Trivia: Jacob deGrom moved into fourth place on the Mets all time strike out list behind Tom Seaver, Dwight Gooden & Jerry Koosman.
On June 11th, 2021: Citi Field expanded its seating, as a crowd of 26,637 came out to see the history making deGrom. The first place New York Mets (32-24) hosted the Padres with chants of "MVP, MVP" from the crowd. In another degrominating performance, he shut out the Padres on one hit, with ten Ks in six innings of work. He struck out Padre All-star, Fernando Tatis Jr. twice.
At the Plate: Also in this game, he added a two-run single, which led the Mets to the 3-2 win. deGrom was now batting .400 with 5 RBIs.
Trivia: He bested his record to 6-2, with an incredible 0.56 ERA, the best in ten starts by any pitcher since the statistic was first kept tracked of in 1913. His WHIP was also a historical best.
He had the league's best strike out per nine innings ratio, the lowest hits per nine innings rate & best walks per nine innings ratios in the league.
His 103 Ks were third best in the NL. After this game he became the favorite to win the NL MVP Award.
On Tuesday June 16th, a crowd of 23,545 with centerfieldmaz & Don Joe Vella in attendance, came out to see deGrom & the first place Mets (36-25) eleven games over .500 host the NL Central leading Chicago Cubs. The Mets had taken the first two games of the series.
deGrom started out in amazing fashion, once again.
In the top of the 1st inning, he struck out the leadoff batter Joc Pederson. After a fly ball out to right field, he then struck out seven batters in a row, Javier Baez to end the first then struck out the side in each of the next two innings.
It was his eleventh hit in 26 at bats, good enough for an incredible .423 batting average. It was the sixth run he had driven in on the season. On the mound he only allowed four earned runs all year. Absolutely incredible.
In the bottom of the 3rd inning after striking out the side, I received a text from my brother reading "deGrom is coming out of the game". Sure enough as the 4th inning began, Sean Reid-Foley entered the game to pitch.
The word was deGrom left the game with a sore right shoulder. The Mets went on to a 6-3 win, but the deGrom injury loomed over the win. deGrom had lowered his ERA to 0.54, was 7-2 & now had 111 strike outs on the year.
Quotes- Jacob deGrom: 
"I don't even know what to say, I'm pretty aggravated with it".
The next day an MRI showed nothing concerning, in the words of Mets manager Luis Rojas: "a normal shoulder from a pitcher".
The Mets did not see a need to shut him down or put him on the IL. He even was able to play a light game of catch the next day.
On July 26th, in an afternoon game at Philadelphia, Jacob gave up two runs, on four hits in six innings of work, while striking out five.
On July 1st in Atlanta, the Mets still had a two-game lead in first place. In the 1st inning, deGrom gave up three hits including a two run HR to Austin Riley.
deGrom would strike out 14 batters for the third time on the year, for his sixth double digit K game.
Dom Smith would hit two HRs in the game but Freddie Freeman collected the walk off RBI single off Seth Lugo for a Mets loss & deGrom getting no decision.
On July 7th at Citi Field, he made what turned out to be his last start of 2021. He got no decision in a 4-3 win over the Brewers.
1500th Career Strike Out: deGrom gave up two runs on four hits, striking out ten reaching double figures in strike outs for the second straight game. In that game he reached a career 1500 strike outs.
2021 All Star: deGrom was named to his fourth NL All-Star team but announced he would not participate.
Season Ending Injury: On July 18th in a bullpen session, he felt tightness in his forearm. He was placed on the ten-day IL. Later in the month he felt soreness in his elbow. An MRI revealed inflammation in the elbow with now structural damage. He was placed on the 60-day IL &did not pitch again the rest of the year.
Historic First Half of Season: He ended 2021 with one the best first half of the season performances in MLB history. His 1.08 ERA was the second best in a first half of a season only behind Bob Gibson's 1.06 (1968).
deGrom was 7-2 with 146 strike outs & 11 walks in 92 innings of work in 15 starts. At the plate he batted .364 (13-65) with a double & career high six RBIs.
2022 Mets Wild Card Season: With the 2022 Mets in first place & a pitching staff now led by Max Scherzer, deGrom wasn't as missed as he would usually have been. All the off-season hype of deGrom & Scherzer in the same rotation would have to wait until August. deGrom did not make his first start of the season until August 2nd.On August 7th, deGrom made his Citi Field debut for 2022 in a game against the rival Atlanta Braves. deGrom struck out 12 batters, earning the win pitching into the 6th inning, giving up two runs on just one a hit, a HR to Dansby Swanson.
On August 13th, he beat another NL East rival, shutting out the Phillies at Citi Field over six innings, striking out ten batters to reach double figures in two straight starts. deGrom was 2-0 with a 1.62 ERA.On August 18th, he too his first loss coming to the Braves in Atlanta. On August 25th, he earned a win in Colorado beating Ryan Feltner 3-1. On August 31st, he & the Dodgers Tyler Anderson had a pitcher's duel for seven innings with deGrom coming out the winner in the 2-1 game. deGrom struck out nine 7 walked no one allowing just three hits.
In the off season he chose free agency & signed with the Texas Rangers.
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