What does Amazin’ deGrom have in store for an encore?
Often when Jacob deGrom has landed on another stratosphere of pitching, the question has soon become what he can possibly do next for an encore.
Almost every time, especially of late, the Mets ace has reached back for something extra and delivered.
A Cy Young Award in 2018? He made it two straight in 2019. Increase his average fastball velocity to a career-best 96.9 mph in 2019? He pushed that number up to 98.6 mph in 2020.
Wednesday, in what has become appointment viewing, deGrom will take the mound against the Red Sox, with the chance to build on Friday’s masterpiece in which he tossed a shutout with a career-high 15 strikeouts in a 6-0 win over the Nationals.
“I know once again tomorrow, even though we’ve seen him pitching a lot from a close distance, we’re all going to be with our eyes open amazed at the things he’s doing out there early this season,” manager Luis Rojas said Tuesday.
After putting his name in the record books Friday, deGrom — who has given up just one earned run in 29 innings this year — will have the chance to make more history Wednesday. He has piled up 50 strikeouts through four starts, the most for any pitcher in MLB history through his first four starts of a season — passing Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan and Indians ace Shane Bieber (48).
It will only take 10 strikeouts for deGrom on Wednesday to set the new mark for the most strikeouts by a pitcher over his first five games of the season. Ryan currently holds the record of 59.
When he was a kid, and his father, Felipe Alou, was managing the Expos, Rojas got to be in attendance to see a young Pedro Martinez pitch as he started to come into his own in a Hall of Fame career.
“But like this, I’ve never seen anything live,” Rojas said.
On the road to 50 strikeouts, deGrom fanned 14 in back-to-back starts before punching out 15 on Friday. That also put him in lofty company.
Before deGrom, only two pitchers had ever struck out 14 or more batters in three straight games: Gerrit Cole and Martinez.
As an Astro late in the 2019 season, Cole struck out 14, 14 and 15 batters in consecutive starts before fanning 11 in his next start. When Martinez did it with the Red Sox in September 1999 — putting the final touches on one of the best seasons ever for a starting pitcher — he punched out 15, 17 and 14 in three straight games before recording 12 in his next outing.
lead in the first after a leadoff double by DJ LeMahieu, a single from Judge that moved LeMahieu to third and a sacrifice fly from Urshela.
They added a run in the third when Judge drilled a homer to left, his fifth of the season.
In the fourth, Higashioka — who Boone said prior to the game would play more regularly thanks to Sanchez’s continued ineptitude at the plate — homered with one out.
LeMahieu scored again on a single by Urshela. But Stanton was thrown out at the plate thanks to an illadvised send by third base coach Phil Nevin.
Baltimore starter Bruce Zimmerman lasted just two outs into the fourth inning, allowing nine hits and four runs.
Stanton’s blast to lead off the seventh made it 5-1.
“We showed what we can do,’’ Gleyber Torres said.