At first glance, Jacob deGrom might look like he’s smiling in this picture.
He’s not. He’s grimacing because he hyper extended his right elbow.
Jacob deGrom was dominant tonight. He breezed through the first 4 innings. He struck out 6 Braves, allowing just 2 hits. He did not walk a batter.
In the bottom of the 3rd, deGrom struck out swinging. He alerted Mickey Callaway that he hurt himself swinging the bat, but said he could still pitch. He did pitch the top of the 4th, but removed himself from the game when he returned to the dugout.
DeGrom is obviously the story of the night. We will get to it very shortly, as there isn’t much to recap. The Braves defeated the Mets 7-0. Sean Newcomb dominated the Mets. He allowed 2 hits and a walk over 7 innings. He struck out 8 Mets.
Sewald allowed 3 runs in 3 innings of work. Gsellman was awful, allowing 4 runs in just 1 inning of work. AJ Ramos delivered a clutch 1-2-3 inning when we were down 7 runs. The Mets were outplayed again by the young Braves in Citi Field. Maybe the deGrom news hit them hard, because they looked completely flat and disinterested.
On another night we might talk about how Sewald nearly escaped the 7th inning, but pitcher Sean Newcomb extended the inning with a double. We might break down the 8th inning, where Gsellman allowed back-to-back homeruns. Not tonight. We may be in really big trouble.
If deGrom is out for an extended period of time, it might be curtains for the 2018 season. Steven Matz and Zack Wheeler have been hit or miss. Speaking of Matz, he just missed his last start with back stiffness. Jason Vargas, who was the Mets’ only off-season starting pitching acquisition, has missed the first month of the season. We aren’t going to judge him on one start, but he did get completely lit up in his debut.
If you’re like me, you might wonder why deGrom was sent back out after he told Callaway he hurt his arm, and that he just wouldn’t swing the bat the rest of the night. Sorry, but I think that’s insane.
Fans are now clamoring for Robert Gsellman or Seth Lugo to replace deGrom in the rotation, if he’s to miss significant time. Ok, who replaces Gsellman or Lugo in the bullpen? The Mets made only one bullpen acquisition this off-season, which was Anthony Swarzak. Have you seen him anywhere?
Also, I hate to say it…
Lugo and Gsellman have not been very good lately.
Some fans even think Matt Harvey should return to the rotation. 😂
The most likely solution is Corey Oswalt gets called up to replace deGrom in the rotation. Honestly, I think that makes the most sense.
How long can we survive without deGrom? That’s a scary thought. Who can you trust besides Syndergaard?
Let’s not speculate any further. I’ll be back the second we hear any MRI results. Fingers crossed.
Jason Vargas makes his second start in the series finale. Hey, he can’t be any worse than he was in his first.
