Mets’ Jacob deGrom dazzles in first MLB start in over a year

New York Mets ace Jacob deGrom clearly hasn’t missed a step.

In his first start since July 7 of last year, deGrom was dominant against the Washington Nationals. DeGrom allowed one run on three hits while striking out six and walking none in his five innings of work.

However, in vintage deGrom fashion, the Mets didn’t give him much run support. He left the game with the game tied at one thanks to a Francisco Lindor home run in the fifth, and did not record a decision.

In even further deGrom fashion, the Mets bullpen allowed four runs following his departure in the 5-1 loss, just hours after the Nats traded away Juan Soto to the San Diego Padres.

DeGrom was en route to maybe the best pitching performance in the history of the game last year. He had a 1.08 ERA and struck out 14.3 batters per nine innings, but he had forearm tightness and elbow inflammation last year that ended his season. Right before the 2022 season started, he was placed on the injured list with a right shoulder injury.

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Mets fans finally saw the Max Scherzer-Jacob deGrom tandem for the first time, as Scherzer started Monday’s game prior to deGrom’s return. The two have a combined five Cy Young Awards (Scherzer with three, deGrom with two).

Entering Tuesday, since the start of the 2018 season, which was his first Cy Young Award campaign, deGrom owns a 1.94 ERA, 0.88 WHIP and 12.0 K/9. Among pitchers with at least 550 innings pitched in that span, his ERA is the best in baseball, his WHIP is the second-best, and his K/9 is the third-best.

The Mets were quiet during the trade deadline, but deGrom’s return is quite the addition.