Over the last 72 hours, we’ve been bombarded from every angle by local sports media. Due to the Mets’ recent struggles, many pundits feel like we should trade Jacob deGrom and start to rebuild the franchise.
Last night, we saw why deGrom would be a very valuable trade chip. (If we go down that road.)
Jacob was phenomenal. That’s the good news. The bad news came in the form of a Met roster move.
The Mets activated Jerry Blevins from the paternity list. They also announced that an MRI revealed a tear in Juan Lagares’ right toe. He will undergo surgery next week and will miss the entire season.
Lagares hurt his toe running down a ball in a rain soaked game against Toronto Wednesday. The score was 12-0 at the time, so it just goes to show you what kind of player Lagares is. Given his contract, that may be the last time we see Lagares in a Mets’ uniform. It’s really unfortunate, as Lagares was really putting together a nice season thus far.
The show goes on and the Mets welcomed Arizona to Citi Field. The aforementioned Jacob deGrom took the mound, and the Diamondbacks didn’t have a chance.
DeGrom was given an early lead as the Mets struck in the first inning.
Brandon Nimmo walked. Asdrubal Cabrera reached on an error, which allowed Nimmo to advance to third. Wilmer Flores grounded out, which scored Nimmo and the Mets had a 1-0 lead. Michael Conforto had an opposite field single which scored Cabrera and deGrom had 2 runs to work with.
Those 2 runs were all deGrom needed, but the Mets added a third just for good measure. In the bottom of the 5th, Michael Conforto singled home Wilmer Flores, which made the score 3-0. More on Conforto in a minute.
The Diamondbacks got their first hit in the 3rd inning. They got 2 more hits in the 5th, but couldn’t capitalize as deGrom struck out the side.
Arizona scored their lone run in the 6th when Jake Lamb doubled home Steven Souza Jr. Lamb attempted to take 3rd base on the play and was gunned down by Adrian Gonzalez. That snapped Jacob’s career best scoreless streak at 24¹/³.
Jake Lamb was activated off the disabled list prior to the game, and Arizona was very happy to have him back. AJ Pollock is on the DL, and Paul Goldschmidt looks completely lost, striking out 4 times in the game.
Of course, that’s not to downplay what deGrom did last night. DeGrom allowed one run on 6 hits over 7 innings of work. He struck out a career high 13! To anyone in attendance it appeared that the hyper extended elbow was ancient history.
In theory, I get what the media is doing. It created endless conversation about a Jacob deGrom trade. But, really? Can we act like a big market team and give this man an extension? Then can we, you know, maybe put a team around him?
The Met bullpen was a sight to see last night. Robert Gsellman pitched a perfect 8th, notching his 4th save. Jeurys Familia struck out the side in the 9th to record his 12th save, and preserve a 3-1 win.
DeGrom was the story of the night, but finishing in a close second was Michael Conforto. Driving in 2 of the 3 runs the Mets scored, Conforto had a perfect 4-4 night. Can we treat this man like the everyday player he is and put him in the 3 hole? And once he’s in the 3 hole can we leave him there?
Stop me if you’ve heard this before. The Mets will try to win two in a row after taking the first game in the series. Steven Matz will pitch against Arizona’s ace, Patrick Corbin. Matz has been effective as of late, and will look to keep the good times rolling.
A win is a win. Is the fact that the Mets had only 6 hits on Conforto’s 4 hit night concerning? Yes. I guess that’s what you have an ace pitcher for. This offense needs to get going though. And quick.
