“It’s almost like he’s not pitching against hitters; he’s pitching against himself.”
As usual, Ron Darling states a beautifully phrased case. This one in particular is attributed to a player who is escalating in elite categories from season-to-season.
Jacob deGrom. There is no Mets bias here. League-wide, deGrom is one of a scarce and scary few who are consistently exciting to watch. Last night’s performance was no exception.
Seven innings pitched. Four hits. Two runs. Two walks.
And, oh – 14 strikeouts.
In the 58-year history of the New York Mets, deGrom is one of three Mets pitchers to have multiple 14-plus strikeout games in one season.
The other two? Tom Seaver, three times, and Dwight Gooden, twice.
The most exciting part of watching deGrom pitch since he came up in 2014, when he won the NL Rookie of the Year, is the gravity of his growing abilities. We don’t see many pitchers whose fastball velocity accelerates from year-to-year, but his fastball has, well, gotten faster. As Darling said, “we seem to gloss over that his velocity has gotten faster every single year. That doesn’t happen.” Meanwhile, his slider has turned into a monster for hitters. It cuts, it curves, it dodges, ducks, dips, and dives. And he can throw it for a strike.
He seems to own a wealth of superpowers. He has Superman’s speed, Batman’s collection of “stuff,” and, (sorry, Syndergaard), Thor’s tremendous power. And those powers are not dwindling. They are amassing.
He might soon be joining another league of elite, with another kind of superhero.
Greg Maddux.
Every part of deGrom’s perfectly poised performances have enamored fans. All of the superb stuff is tremendous fun to watch. To me, the greatest of these is his manipulation of the mentality of every hitter he faces. He is strong yet steady, lethal yet lithe, deliberate as he is determined. He maintains that cool presence while he is absolutely obliterating his foes, at-bat by at-bat. And his mind is mastering every single scenario. He’s challenging himself more than he’s challenging hitters. What can he throw next? How can he manipulate this at-bat? How can he change the face of every game he pitches with each specific turn of his wrist, grip of the ball, stance on the mound?
That is what Maddux did. He was a scholar of his hitters. He held them in fear and ended them in fury. He was a mastermind of his game. Maddux didn’t just have good stuff, he had the brain of a wizard. Even if he was off his game, he’d manipulate mystery from the mound. You never knew how he was going to win, because he didn’t even know yet. His mind was moving miles per hour from pitch-to-pitch.
This mindful ability led Maddux to join only one other pitcher to win 15 games in 15 consecutive seasons. The other was Cy Young. Conveniently, Maddux achieved this on this day, September 22, in 2002, when his line was immaculately close to deGrom’s from last night. Seven innings pitched with four hits allowed.
That club was robbed of its potential from deGrom, given this season. The club I’m talking about is one of three. The three-consecutive Cy Young award club.
Greg Maddux had four straight. Randy Johnson had four. Jacob deGrom is going for his third in a row.
He’s not without competition, but there is a sure likelihood that he can join that class.
Regardless of statistics, watching him work his superpowers is enough to make a case.
