[ad_1]
Jacob deGrom was the man in batting practice on Wednesday as Jacob deGrom is still the man. As the sun began to set and shadows began to crawl over the grass of Citi Field, deGrom stood at the shortstop, his old college post, preparing for any line workout.
From the rail of the Mets canoe, it was difficult to take your eyes off the ace of aces, dormant since July 7th. Frankly, it was just good to see him on a ball field again after medics cleared him to do what an SNY camera caught him doing a few hours earlier: play wrestling in the outfield, can -be the first step towards the start of a game in mid-September.
DeGrom found himself in left field during BP before making his way through the center and then to the right. He finally climbed the low wall in the right corner of the field and descended a tunnel, presumably to avoid the journalists gathered near the canoe. As much as journalists depend on access to athletes to provide information to fans, it was hard to fault deGrom for taking a pre-match pass for three reasons:
- It’s embarrassing to effectively engage in a press conference on a development as simple as playing wrestling.
- It would be even more embarrassing if deGrom played the game and then suffered another setback that ended his season.
- It’s not his responsibility to answer questions about a team meltdown that had nothing to do with him (even if it had everything to do with him).
On July 7, after deGrom finished pitching seven innings of four hits, two runs and 10 shots on goal in Milwaukee, the Mets claimed the victory with a 45-37 record and a four-game league lead. national. East. The Mets have since gone 16-27 while plunging to third place, 6 ¹ / ₂ games behind Division leaders Atlanta heading into Wednesday night’s game against the Giants.
Yes, it can be argued that as a starting pitcher – even as a starting pitcher who is a great generational – deGrom can’t have such a dramatic and overall impact on his team as he doesn’t take part in four out of five competitions. . Games.
It’s a stupid argument.
Never mind that deGrom even has the best batting average (.364) for any Met with at least 30 home plate appearances this year (of course he does). When he’s on the mound and at the top of his game, deGrom has a huge emotional impact on his team. When he’s healthy and on the bench, that impact doesn’t completely fade away, and you don’t have to be a Harvard-trained psychologist to understand why.
The Mets have been a Charlie Brown franchise for a long time, and deGrom’s mere presence goes against that grain of loserville. The day the Mets drafted deGrom in the ninth round of the 2010 draft, Lucy finally held the ball for them. For the first half of this season, the Mets could stand on top of a baseball mountain, over the Yankees and all the rest, and shout that they had something that no one else had: the best pitcher on the planet.
Do you think it didn’t positively affect the Mets on the days he didn’t pitch?
After manager Luis Rojas announced what he called “great news for us” – an MRI scan that showed enough improvement in deGrom’s elbow inflammation to allow him to throw a baseball – I asked him about the damage the absence of his ace has done to his team, not just in a physical context, but also psychologically.
“We have faced a lot of things this season, and the guys have taken it in the best way,” said Rojas. “They show up to play with the same behavior every day. I don’t think there is any mentality, or just a negative attitude towards a game because we thought it could have been Jake’s day. … Because we’ve been through a rough time, I don’t think guys are like, “OK, Jake isn’t here.”
“It’s always good when it’s active and throws every five days, but [when] he wasn’t, I don’t think the guys complained about themselves. … I don’t think from a mental point of view [deGrom’s absence] hurt guys. They showed up to play the same way every day.
Just not half as effectively.
Rojas needs to protect his players, and he can’t give them a reason to fail in a press conference response. Later at the end of BP when I spoke with Rojas on the pitch he said he was doing everything in his power to remove future media and fan references to a Same Old Mets mentality. . Rojas is only 39 years old and he has a chance to be a very good manager in the long run.
But entering Wednesday night’s game, with a deGrom return potentially on the horizon, the Mets were still a plummeting team. And in all respects, their unraveling was another testament to deGrom’s greatness.
Not that he needed it.
[ad_2]
Source link