Jacob deGrom and the Mets have a plan this season. Noah Syndergaard and then deGrom follows with back-to-back wins. Hopefully Steven Matz and Matt Harvey will continue this pattern the next two games at Citi Field against the Cardinals and Phillies. Saturday afternoon, deGrom did not have his best stuff but pitched well enough into the sixth inning.
And like Syndergaard, who got the win on Opening Day, deGrom got his first win of the season as the Mets took their second straight over the St. Louis Cardinals 6-2.
If this is the plan, well the Mets will be satisfied. It also helps that the Mets gave deGrom enough runs and the bullpen finished it up, so the first two games out of the gate for rookie manager Mickey Callaway have gone to perfection.
“That’s very nice,” DeGrom said. “Big win the other day and wanted to come out here and win again today.” The win got the Mets to 2-0 for the first time since 2013. But it was deGrom with one earned run, and seven strikeouts in 6.2 innings that offered this optimism in what could be something special this season for the Mets.
Of course the Mets know what to expect from Syndergaard, and also the same from deGrom. And with this start that followed Opening Day, and after the casualties of the pitching staff last season, how can one not be optimistic? Jake was the lone survivor of Citi Field Sick Bay last year and led the staff in innings pitched.
But he still was not satisfied. The cold weather caused the ball to slip at times but he struck out five of the first nine Cardinals.
He said, “I was having a hard time getting a grip on the ball but other that that I was able to keep them off the board, gave them one run.”
And with the Mets scoring enough runs, Travis d’Arnaud his first home run of the season and scoring two in the first, that also gave deGrom a nice and early advantage. But it does come down to how this Mets pitching staff keeps opposing hitters from scoring and staying healthy.
So far, so good. The manager was talking about d’Arnaud and Kevin Plawecki. His catchers have been nothing but perfect the first two games. He was also bragging about deGrom and this pitching minded manager had every reason to do some bragging.even though deGrom said he was having a hard time gripping the ball to use his slider.
Callaway said about the first start, “First win was a big thing. Had good stuff. Sure he got tired. Threw a lot of pitches early.”
And it went exactly to plan for the Mets. With the exception of Anthony Swarzak who had to be removed because of an oblique strain, that could put him on the disabled list, Jeurys Familia converted his first save and recorded the final four outs.
‘I was able to mix it up keep them off balance. deGrom said “Big win the other night. Hand the ball over to Matz tomorrow see what he can do.”
Exactly the plan for the Mets. Jacob deGrom gave the Mets that first start and it was exactly what the Mets wanted after two games with 160 to go.
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