Cicero once wrote, “Inter arma enim silent leges,” which means “In the time of war, the law falls silent.” And it holds true, because During conflicts, usually some of our rights and liberties get pushed aside for the greater good. Argue its merits or detriments, but if you think about all the wars we had, it generally is the truth.
At Citi Field, though, the Mets have seemed to bastardize this quote to “Inter deGrom enim silent offense.” When Jacob deGrom is on the mound, his offense falls silent.
You can’t explain it and you need to wonder why the Mets fail to score for their ace time and time again. Even tonight, the bats were held to one run on two hits with old Jake taking the 2-1 loss.
“We know we haven’t been scoring runs when Jacob pitches,” said manager Mickey Callaway. “As the game goes on you get frustrated. You start feeling you let Jake down.”
The joke among the reporters in the clubhouse tonight was that there was no need to talk to any of the Mets starting nine. It would be just a repeat of what was said before. You could almost go back on the voice recorder and pick a quote from another deGrom game and it fit for tonight’s performance.
That’s the story of deGrom’s season. Every time he pitches it’s Groundhog Day. Maybe the Mets can get Bill Murray away from Wrigley Field to throw out a first pitch. It would be fitting.
More importantly, it’s a tremendous shame. In a lost season, deGrom’s quest for the Cy Young would have been the story of the second half, but the Mets are crushing that dream with their inability to score.
Yes, I know the analytic guys have devalued the win stat, but that doesn’t mean the award for best pitcher in the league will go to a guy with a losing record and after tonight deGrom is 5-7. And in his last 19 starts, deGrom has allowed three of fewer runs and guess what the Mets are 5-14 in those games. It’s uncanny.
And can it get worse? Sure! If the Mets have their way and can pass both Jose Bautista and Devin Mesoraco though waivers, they may not be long on this club. Two less bats in the lineup, every five days for deGrom to at least have some hope.
It can turn around. On Wednesday if the weather cooperates next week, the Mets could just pull a laugher against the Reds and this may be forgotten, but it’s more likely Sal Romano, the Reds probable will have an easy day against the Mets silent offense.
Felix Hernandez holds the distinction of having the fewest number of wins with a Cy Young Award with 13. DeGrom still has time to pile up a few wins, but with two months left he only has about 10 more starts on the year and needs to get eight wins just to tie that mark.
So yeah, it’s going to be interesting. DeGrom to his credit hasn’t been frustrated, “Every time I go out there, I try to put us in a position to win and we haven’t won baseball games,” he said. The Cy Young isn’t on his mind, but it’s on everyone else’s.
And right now, it’s the story of the Mets season.
“Inter deGrom enim silent offense.”
“In the time of deGrom, the offense falls silent.”
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